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"V/ 


IS A SHIP CANAL PRACTICABLE ? 


NOTES 


HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL 


UPON THE PROJECTED ROUTES FOR AN 


INTEROCEANIC SHIP CANAL BETWEEN THE ATLANTIC AND 

PACIFIC OCEANS, 


IN WHICH IS INCLUDED 


A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF THE CANAL 
OF SUEZ, AND THE PROBABLE EFFECTS UPON THE COMMERCE 
OF THE WORLD OF THE TWO CANALS, REGARDED EITHER 
AS RIVALS, OR AS PARTS OF ONE SYSTEM OF 
INTEROCEANIC NAVIGATION. 



B Y 


S. T. ABEET, C.E. 



ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS, 



CINCINNATI: 


R. W. CARROLL & CO., PUBLISHERS 

117 West Fourth Street. 


1870. 

W 








% 











The following notes upon Interoceanic Routes across the American 
Isthmus were collected and arranged during intervals of professional occu¬ 
pation, and are doubtless affected by the haste incident to this method of 
preparation. 

They were laid by a friend before the Hon. William H. Seward and 
the late R. J. Walker, for their perusal, and receiving the commendation 
of their enlightened judgments, the writer has thought that the publication 
may not be without interest to those who are seeking information as to the 
feasibility of an intermarine ship canal between the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans. 

Prepared before the completion of the Suez Canal and the sailing of the 
last Darien Expedition, some additions have been made to bring the parts 
of the Notes relating to these topics up to date. 


August i, 1870. 




























































































































































































































































































































































































































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IS A SHIP CANAL PRACTICABLE? 


CHAPTER I. 


Columbus discovers Darien—Opinions of Berghaus, Humboldt, Garella, Hughes—Expectation of 
finding a Strait—Influence of Oriental Trade—Names identified with the Project of a Canal— 
Defeat of Miranda’s Scheme—Object—Opinion of Admiral Davis—Sketch of Oriental 
Trade—Contest for its Possession—Four different Solutions—United States—Russia— 
France—England—English Diplomacy and the Suez Canal—History of its Difficulties— 
Empress Eugenie Inaugurates—Dimensions of Canal—Capital of Company—Expenditures— 
Effects on Commerce—Circumstances affecting the Permanence of the Suez Canal—Teach¬ 
ing of History—Sand Dunes—Inferences from Geology—Sediment of the Nile—Deltas— 
Silting up of Port Said, and rate of advance of the Shore Line. 

U PON the 14th of September, in the year of our Lord 1502, 
three caravels, bearing Columbus and the destinies of the New 
World, long baffled by opposing storms and currents, at last 
doubled Cape Gracias a Dios. 

To appreciate the courage of the daring Navigator, it is necessary 
to call to mind the fact that the largest vessel of this little fleet did 
not exceed seventy tons burden. With seams opened by the stress 
of the gales, sails tattered by the winds, hulls eaten to a honey-comb 
by the teredo, distrust at home, dissension around, and danger every¬ 
where, this great man abated not a jot of his high hopes, but repair¬ 
ing his shattered ships as he was able, continued his adventurous 
voyage. 

The air came to the toil-worn mariners freighted with spicy fra¬ 
grance, gentle winds wafted them in sight of lofty mountains and of 
verdant slopes, clothed with the majestic palm and the pink and 
golden blossoming flor de Robles. 

The simple-minded natives of Honduras and Costa Rica welcomed 
them with supernatural devotion, bringing gifts of fruits, gold, gems, 
and tenders of hospitality. 

Strange rumors reached them of a people living in houses of 
sculptured stone, and occupied in the arts of peace. Columbus 
could not be diverted from his purpose. 


(S) 



6 Opinions of Berghaus , Humboldt , Garella y Hughes . 

The season was that of gales, and the little fleet was shut in the 
beautiful harbor of Porto Bello. 

The Norther ceasing, the voyage continued as far as the little, 
craggy Bay of El Retreate; here, near the present Puerto de Mos¬ 
quitoes, Columbus reached the westward limit of his last voyage of 
discovery. 

Sixty-six years of sorrow and disappointment, of disinterested 
purposes maliciously opposed, of bold designs ignorantly thwarted, 
of a pure and illustrious character misjudged and traduced, had 
humbled the pride and subdued the enthusiasm of that aspiring 
intellect; and now, at the close of a career of vast and useful dis¬ 
coveries, he was called on to face a trial which Goethe has affirmed 
to be the severest and most inexorable of life. 

Welcomed with the approving plaudits of his king and country¬ 
men, or loaded with ignominious chains, he had ever kept one object 
constantly in view. This object, pursued with unexampled courage, 
self-abnegation, and constancy, he was now called on to renounce. 
Who will venture to depict the thoughts of this remarkable man as 
he turned to retrace his path, leaving behind him the prospect of 
discoveries far greater than those which had cast the hallow of im¬ 
mortal fame around his name ? 

“ Here ended,” says Irving, in a strain of tender eloquence, “ the 
lofty aspirations which had elevated him above all mercenary views 

in his struggle along this perilous coast”-“it is true, he had been 

in pursuit of a chimera, but it was the chimera of a splendid imag¬ 
ination and a penetrating judgment. If he was disappointed in finding 
a strait through the Isthmus of Darien, it was because Nature herself 
was disappointed.” 

This sagacious conjecture has its foundation in nature, and is 
supported by the opinions of savans and the facts of recent geolog 
ical explorations. 

The Prussian geographer, Berghaus, as early as 1823, and Prof 
Hopkins, contested the accepted opinion as to the unbroken con. 
tinuity of the Isthmus and the contiguous continents. 

The French engineer, Garella, after making a geological recon- 
noissance, declares that the Isthmus is of more recent origin than 
the continents which it unites. Col. Hughes and Garella concur in 
a belief in the existence, at an early period, of a strait uniting the 
Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The identity of the species of fish in¬ 
habiting the waters on both sides of the Isthmus is an additional 
argument in confirmation of this view. 

It is without surprise that we find the discoveries of another science 



7 


Expectation of finding a Strait. 

confirming this inference. Prof. Huxley, in a recent address on the 
progress of palaeontology, is unable to explain the distribution of mam¬ 
mals at the close of the miocene period, except upon the supposition 
of a barrier which prevented the migration of the apes, rodents, and 
edentata from the southern to the northern continent. He cites the 
opinions of Carrick Moore and Prof. Duncan in support of the same 
conclusion. Further investigation will, no doubt, add to the number 
of facts which indicate the separation of the two continents by the 
ancient sea, and may even establish the fact that portions of Central 
America once formed parts of the Antilles group of the equatorial 
belt of islands. 

General Michler, in his interesting report of the survey of the 
Atrato, observes: “All the stratified rocks on the Isthmus, exhibiting 
strong marks of disturbance and even dislocation since they were 
originally deposited, clearly prove that the upheaval which brought 
this narrow neck of land above the level of the ocean must have 
taken place at a comparatively late era. This period was undoubt¬ 
edly accompanied by the protrusion of certain metamorphosed 
shistose (?) rocks, the doubtful nature of which has induced us to 
mark them as belonging to a trappean series. If Darwin had good 
reason to believe that the granite of South America, now rising into 
central peaks 14,000 feet in elevation, must have been in a fluid state 
since the deposition of the tertiary group, we may also do so in pro¬ 
nouncing the formation of the Isthmus, now linking together South 
and Central America, as decidedly post-tertiary.” 

The deductions of Columbus were, however, based on the direc¬ 
tion of the coast of Cuba, which he supposed to be a continent, and 
the parallel coast of South America; and was further confirmed by 
the westerly current flowing between them, which must, he thought, 
find an outlet near Darien. 

These bold generalizations, drawn from stores of profound ob¬ 
servation and varied reading, although we now know them to be 
erroneous, evince the sagacity of the man, and place him far ahead 
of the intelligence of his age. With heartfelt sorrow he reluctantly 
renounced a chimera so plausible, which he expected would lead him 
to the fabulous kingdom of Prester John, or, perhaps, to the mar¬ 
velous splendors of the imperial dominions of Kublai Kahn, and which 
would, he believed, open new fields for the peaceful conquests of the 
banner of the Redeemer. 

The delusive representations of travelers was the chief impulse to 
some of the greatest achievements of the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries. 


8 


Influence of Oriental Trade. 


The coveted wealth of “ Ormus and of Ind ” was a siren who had 
lured adventurous navigators to dare the dangers of unknown seas. 

The same diversity of motive may be found in the men of that 
period which now exists and animates the westward course of civili¬ 
zation. Love of money and fame are found contending by the side 
of the desire to extend the domain of knowledge and zeal for the 
spread of religion. 

The result of these combined passions was to open new avenues 
to wealth, industry, and science. 

Four hundred years have elapsed since the wondering eyes of 
Spanish discoverers first gazed on the strange beauty of the New 
World. In this interval a nation of forty millions of people have 
been planted in the country of Columbus, its wildernesses are 
traversed by steam, its products supply food and clothing to a large 
part of the world; but, with all this progress, the visionary strait of 
the great navigator is yet an unrealized dream. 

Impossibilities have been accomplished, poetical fictions have 
become facts, visionary theories of the past are the industrial arts of 
the present. In wealth, comfort, health, longevity, art, science, or¬ 
ganized labor and charities, the human race of the present have out¬ 
stripped the Arcadian felicity of the golden eras of Hesiod and 
Cervantes. 

Possessing every facility, occupying a preeminent coigne of van¬ 
tage, we have left one thing unachieved. This ought we to have 
done, and not to have left the others undone. 

Many minds, speculative and practical, have closely scrutinized 
the feasibility of making the American Isthmus a highway for the 
commerce of the world. 

Its importance grows in dimensions in proportion to the study 
bestowed on it. It ranks among its friends some of the most able 
men of the race. 

Columbus, Cortes, Charles V, Alverado, Gonzales de Avila, De 
Solis, Gomaro, Bautista Antonella, and, in more recent times, Pater¬ 
son, Pitt, Jefferson, Humboldt, Guizot, Napoleon III, Wheaton, 
Dallas, Biddle, and a long and honorable list of statesmen and pub¬ 
licists have contributed to the project. 

According to the scheme of General Miranda, sanctioned by Wm. 
Pitt, it was proposed that Great Britain should supply the money and 
ships, and the United States should send 10,000 men. 

The failure of this plan is attributed to delay on the part of 
President Adams. 

The tonnage of the trade which would annually seek this route 


Opinion of Admiral Davis. 


9 


has been estimated at 3,094,000 tons, equal in value to $152,475,750. 
The value of the exports and imports of all the nations which would 
annually pass the Isthmus would amount to $451,029,132. 

With such enormous commercial interests, backed by advocates 
so able, it is not a little curious that the question of feasibility should 
be yet unsolved. 

Political vicissitudes have often postponed its consideration. Con¬ 
flicting interest and rivalries have prevented the cooperation long 
deemed essential to its successful execution. 

The hereditary policy of the United States has always been anti¬ 
social and insular. Schooled in this policy, it is difficult to enlist the 
sympathies of our people in questions which are to be answered in 
regions beyond their jurisdiction. 

The utility and practicability of the work must first be made 
clearly manifest. 

Passing in review the present state of our knowledge of Isthmean 
routes, one of the objects of this paper is to attempt to appreciate 
the probable advantages which would result from the completion of 
an intermarine ship canal. 

In selecting from material, much of which bears little relation to 
the questions at issue, many objects may be omitted which deserve 
notice, and some may be noticed which might have been omitted. 

If serious attention is attracted to this important project, the 
writer will have attained his object. 

“ There does not exist in the libraries of the world,” observes 
Admiral Davis, “ the means of determining, even approximately, the 
most practicable route for a ship canal across the Isthmus.” This de¬ 
ficiency in our geographical knowledge will shortly be supplied. An 
exploration is now in progress, under the auspices of Government. 

If a practicable route is found, there is reason to believe that 
execution will follow as certainly a.s the settlement of America fol¬ 
lowed its discovery. 

We may not unreasonably expect the progress of the future to 
keep pace with the past, and that the absolute increase of the com¬ 
mercial marine, and an enlarged area for its operations, will lead to 
a proportionate extension of the beneficent influences of religion and 
civilization. The speculation opens a prospect of the future destiny 
of intertropical America ; destined, perhaps, to produce as great a 
revolution on our globe as the colonization of America. 

“ The completion of this work,” observes an earnest advocate, 
“ will be the same as if, by some great revolution of the globe, the 
eastern continent were brought nearer to us.” 


io Contest for Possession of Oriental Trade . 

The produce of the Indies has always been a coveted prize; 
wealth has followed in its path ; commercial supremacy has been the 
property of its possessor. As changes in the route brought about 
new political relations, and raised up a more successful competitor 
for the trade of the Orient, a reconstruction of the map of the world 
has become necessary. 

Its importance may be gathered from the fact that the annual 
exports and imports of the United States to the East Indies, China, 
Australia, and the South Pacific Islands amount to $39,380,000, and 
the aggregate exports and imports of Great Britain to the same points 
amount to $378,857,000. 

If this trade has ceased to be a monopoly, and has lost some of 
its importance since the colonization of the Americas, it is yet suffi¬ 
cient to hold the guerdon of commercial supremacy. A history of 
its course and influence is beyond the scope of this paper. A passing 
notice will show how important a part it has played in the destinies 
of nations. 

It is probable that the wars of ancient Egypt, Assyria, and 
Babylon were waged for the control of the trade of the East. The 
expedition of Alexander was not the result of an unreasoning lust 
for dominion and military glory. The apple of discord then, as now, 
was the beautiful land of the East. The descendants of the great 
Aryan and Semitic families, constantly moving westward, never 
forgot the land of their birth. 

At an early period, caravans brought the rich products of India 
across the desert. Under the influence of this traffic, the palaces 
of Palmyra sprang up amid the sands. The Saracens drove the 
course of trade to the Caspian and the Euxine. The Mediterranean 
felt its beneficent effects, and Venice, Trieste, Marseilles, Cadiz, 
Barcelona became the marts of its rich and varied commodities. 

After the discovery of de Gama, the busy hum of industry began 
to cease in these once populous emporiums. When Shylock drew 
up his bloody bond, the trade of the Indies had set around the cape. 
While commerce was suspended and industry prostrated by wars and 
civil dissensions, Holland bore off the prize. The devastating armies 
of Alva threw the Indian trade into the strong hands of Elizabeth. 

England now began to lay carefully the foundation of her empire. 
The policy she now adopted, whether through instinct or forethought, 
was one which looked beyond the temporary advantages of position 
and possession. She attempted to make these advantages permanent 
by the conquest of the territory from whence all these bounties 
seemed perennially to flow. 


Four different Solutions. 


II 


The British Empire in India, in its extent, power, wealth, and 
future possibilities, stands an enduring monument of the courage, 
energy, and wisdom of the British people. Whether actual posses¬ 
sion has secured the reversionary benefit, time alone can show. 

That wealth, power, and dominion follow oriental traffic, is now 
patent to the world. It is no longer the object of secret diplomatic 
intrigue; it has become an open question, to be solved by the gen¬ 
eral competition of commercial nations. 

In the pursuit of this object, the leader in the Pansclavonic move¬ 
ment is pushing her outposts past India to the wall of China. The 
United States, conscious of her natural advantage, is awakening to 
the importance of a systematic policy. 

The French Emperor seems at present, by the aid of the Suez 
Canal, likely to appropriate the lion’s share. While American com¬ 
merce is disappearing from the seas—fifty per cent, of her exports 
and imports being carried in foreign ships—the flag of France may 
be seen by the side of England in every sea. The hereditary policy 
and commercial instinct of the British may prove to be more than a 
match for the astuteness of one man. Who will ultimately bear off 
the prize, is a question admitting three possible solutions. 

Russia, as has been said, rapidly extending her frontier eastward, 
stretches out her hand to grasp the trade of the East. The Suez 
and Darien Canals—the one an unsolved problem, the other an ac¬ 
complished fact—represent the two other contestants. One of the 
most constant objects of war and diplomacy has been for the pos¬ 
session of the highway through Egypt for the trade of the East. 

It was designated by the Portugese conqueror, Albuqueque, as 
one of the three important points essential to the “ command and 
monopoly” of this trade. England, anticipating the day when it 
might be important for her to have the military control of this high¬ 
way, has persistently established military ports, beginning at Gibraltar 
and ending at Aiden. She has secured strong posts at Malta and 
Beb el Mandeb. The Great Leibnitz called the attention of Louis 
XIV to the commercial and political advantages of a conquest and 
colonization of this country. Napoleon, flushed with the conquest 
of Italy, took the initiative in this bold design. By his order, M. 
Lepere, “a distinguished engineer,” completed an examination in 
1801. The results of this examination have been published by the 
Imperial Government. 

M. Lepere asserted the practicability of a ship canal along the 
line of the ancient canal from Suez to the Nile, as far as the Bitter 
Lakes. From thence its course has to proceed to the Pelusiac 



12 English Diplomacy and the Suez Canal. 

branch of the Nile. Here, on the sea, it encounters the accumulating 
banks and bars of the Nile, one of the two very serious obstacles to 
the execution and permanent value of a ship canal between the two 
seas. 

The project of a canal uniting the Red Sea and the Mediterra¬ 
nean appears to have been suggested by M. de Lesseps to Said 
Pacha, the Viceroy of Egypt, in 1854. The company was definitely 
formed in 1869. 

It is not very easy to estimate the important effects of opening 
this route to the maritime States of Europe. 

Lord Palmerston, acting in the interest of England, constantly 
opposed the design. He at once perceived that the restoration of 
trade to the Levantine ports would seriously disturb the commercial 
equilibrium. All the ingenious devices of a clever lawyer in con¬ 
ducting a bad case were employed by English diplomacy in order to 
arrest the operations of M. de Lesseps. 

The first and most valid objections alleged by Lord Palmerston 
were based on the practical difficulties in the way of execution, and 
were stated with great force and acuteness. The shifting sands of 
the Desert would, it was affirmed, soon fill up the canal; and the 
sand and silt, which from time immemorial had been brought down 
by the great father of waters, and which swept to the westward by 
the prevailing winds, would soon fill up any artificial harbor which 
might be constructed. 

That these difficulties were resolutely encountered and overcome, 
is one of the marvels of this truly marvelous work. 

To these objections M. de Lesseps cautiously replied that all 
questions would be referred to a commission of engineers. 

After an examination of all the plans, the commission reported 
favorably on that which has just been successfully executed. The work 
found a few friends among the English people and in Parliament. 

Lord Palmerston, being interrogated, declared that the scheme 
was hostile to the interest of the country. His real objection was 
obscurely hinted. “ It is founded,” he remarked, “ in remote specu¬ 
lations in regard to easier access to our Indian possessions, which I 
need not more distinctly shadow forth, because they will be obvious 
to any body who pays attention to the subject.” He further charac¬ 
terized it as one of those plans “ so often brought out to make dupes 
of the English people,” and he expressed his preference for the com¬ 
munication by railroad between Suez and Cairo. As this railroad 
can never be more than a passenger route, it is evident that its 
influence on commerce must always be insignificant. 


History of its Difficulties. 


13 


The work had barely commenced when, through the instigation 
of the English Embassador, the Sultan issued an order arresting the 
operations. The plea assigned for this interference was that the au¬ 
thority of the Viceroy was insufficient without the sanction of the 
Sultan. De Lesseps invoked the interposition of the Emperor, who, 
with apparent indifference, was watching the proceedings from his 
retreat at Biarritz. 

Within a month after the presentation of the memorial the mis¬ 
understanding between the two cabinets had been explained, and 
Lord Palmerston was for a time silenced by the consent of Egypt to 
receive a Turkish garrison. This acquiescence was in appearance 
only, as the real object of these repeated assaults was to arrest the 
work. The Viceroy, desirous of silencing all opposition, consulted 
French jurisconsults in regard to the rights of the company, and 
definitely settled the powers of the contracting parties. 

For a moderate sum he ceded to the company the belt of country 
bordering the fresh water canal. Immediately the cry was raised by 
the opponents of the canal, that it was intended to colonize this region 
with Europeans. 

While this matter was in controversy, and the work was steadily 
proceeding, Said Pacha suddenly died, and Ismail, his nephew, reigned 
in his stead, with the title of Khedive. He confirmed the concessions 
of his predecessor and entered into new conventions. His confidence 
in the work, which had appeared uncertain, was established by the 
able report of Sir John Hawkshaw, the President of the Society of 
Civil Engineers. This report, however, which was confirmed by the 
personal inspection of Sir Henry Bulwer, aroused all the fears of the 
English Government. The success of the work, at first problem¬ 
atical, now seemed more than probable. A decisive blow must be 
struck; one that should be fatal to the undertaking. 

Throughout Egypt, according to an ancient and still prevailing 
custom, private and public work is executed by a system of forced 
labor, termed Corve. The conscription is limited to the period of 
one month, at a fixed rate of wages. The company engaged to pay 
higher rates than usual, and to supply food, lodging, medical attend¬ 
ance, and half pay when sick. No sooner had twenty thousand men 
been collected on the excavations, than a “howl went up from 
Exeter Hall.” Lord Stratford de Redcliffe demanded of the Sultan 
“to stop the scandal.” 

The British Government were instantly seized with one of those 
sudden spasms of morality, or humanity, which Lord Macaulay affirms 
has been observed periodically to afflict the British people. 


14 


History of its Difficulties. 


The Sultan, who appears to have been a pliable tool in the hands 
of English Envoys, issued an order abolishing the system of compul¬ 
sory labor, and disbanding all the fellahs employed by the company. 

This arbitrary and unjust interference had but one meaning, and 
seemed likely to have but one result. The plea of humanity, ad¬ 
vanced by a Government which had overlooked the sacrifice of 1000 
men in one day, when that sacrifice had been jnade by their own 
injudicious advice, and for their own benefit, could be nothing more 
than a manifest subterfuge. 

This vigorous handling of the political puppets on the diplomatic 
chess-board proved how serious were Lord Palmerston’s apprehen¬ 
sions. It was the old question which every age revives. In the past, 
the issue had again and again been brought to the arbitrament of the 
sword. With such antagonists as Palmerston on one side and de 
Lesseps and the Silent Emperor upon the other, the duel was neces¬ 
sarily a Voutrance. 

It was now evident that war alone could arrest the completion 
of the maritime highway between the two seas. Was it the death 
of Palmerston or the progress of peaceful arts that kept this question 
confined to the field of diplomacy ? 

Opposition only stimulated the energy and confirmed the deter¬ 
mination of de Lesseps. The controversy was referred to the decis¬ 
ion of the French Emperor. A smile, half machiavelian, must have 
flitted over the face of his reticent Majesty when the question was 
submitted to his Imperial arbitration. By his decision the Egyptian 
Government were called on to pay, not unwillingly, an indemnity to 
the company for a release from the obligation to furnish compulsory 
labor, and for the retrocession of certain land grants and privileges 
of navigation. 

“The indomitable Lesseps did not despair.” After months of 
delay, he collected laborers from all parts of Europe, and the work 
was resumed. 

The vigilance of the English opposition soon found another vul¬ 
nerable point. The Sultan was again persuaded to issue a firman 
denying the right of the Viceroy to cede the land through which the 
canal was to be excavated. This well-aimed blow caused a suspen¬ 
sion of operations for two years. Any man less able, self-reliant, or 
resolute than M. de Lesseps would have succumbed.* 


* For more detailed account of the difficulties and of the preliminary work, the reader is re¬ 
ferred to the pamphlets of Capt. Methven, Pen. and Oriental Steamship Company; of J. N. 
Strouse, U. S. N.; Mr. H. Mitchell, Coast Survey; Blackwood, Dec., 1869, and other periodicals. 



Empress Eugenie Inaugurates. 


15 


The Emperor was induced to intervene. M. Thouvenei, the French 
Minister at Constantinople, was requested “ to enlighten the mind 
of the Sublime Porte as to the views and wishes of France.” 

The introduction of machinery now became a matter of necessity. 
Ten millions of dollars were expended for this object, and forty enor¬ 
mous dredges were soon at work upon the excavations. One of the 
novelties in the construction of these machines was a provision for 
carrying off the excavated material by means of a stream of water. 
One of the workmen, it is said, noticed that when removed in this 
way the slimy earth spread over a wide surface and became soon 
indurated, instead of flowing back into the place of excavation. It 
also possessed the further advantage of fixing the mobile sand. 

The total amount of earth removed amounted to about four hun¬ 
dred million cubic yards. By working day and night, the machines 
of M. Borel and Lavelley were able to remove 78,056 to 108,000 
cubic meters per month. 

Although the completion of the canal now seemed assured, the 
opposition of the English Government continued up to the last 
moment. Every effort was made to prejudice the Sultan and the 
Khddive against the work, and, by exciting the jealousy of the 
Sultan, to induce him to arrest the excavations. 

After ten years of labor, this great work was completed. Upon 
the 17th of November, 1869, the opening of the canal was inaugu¬ 
rated in the presence of the Empress Eugenie and the Emperor of 
Austria, and of princes, embassadors, and men of science from 
Europe and America. 

The Empress, leading the van of the fleet in her steam yacht, 
l’Aigle, entered the canal amid salvos of artillery. The yards of the 
ships were manned with sailors, every mast-head was decked with a 
flag, and the bands played the martial airs of the assembled nations. 
The transit between the two seas was safely made by the fleet. But 
the requisite depth had not been attained. Seventeen and a half feet 
could be carried through the canal. Since then the depth has been 
increased to twenty-two feet, and ultimately will be twenty-six feet. 

The length of the canal is one hundred miles. The established 
surface-width is about 328 feet, except in difficult cuttings, where it 
is 190 feet. The least bottom width is 72 feet. The highest ground 
cut through is at El Guisr, where it is 85 feet; at Serapeum it is 62 
feet; and at Chalouf, near Suez, it is 56 feet. 

The excavation of the canal, although of considerable difficulty, 
was exceeded by the necessity for creating artificial harbors at the 
extremities. The harbor at Port Said, upon the Mediterranean, has 


16 


Capital of Company—Expenditures. 


the general form of a triangle, the base resting on the shore and the 
longer side on the west, protecting the entrance from the moving sand. 
The longer arm, or mole, is 8,200 feet, extending to the 26 feet curve 
of sounding. It is proposed to extend this mole 2,300 feet farther. 
As this harbor is exposed to N. E. winds, an inside basin has been 
constructed. The area of the outer harbor is equal to 400 acres, and 
will permit twenty line-of-battle ships to swing freely at anchor. 

At the other extremity of the canal, a mole 2,550 feet in length 
protects the channel, which has been dredged to the depth of 27 feet. 
The mole at Suez differs from that at Port Said in construction; 
the latter being formed of concrete blocks of 13 cubic feet, the 
former of stone quarried from the neighboring mountain. 

The organization, equipment, sanitary regulations, and division 
of labor among twenty thousand men, employed at one time, is full 
of interest and instruction, but must be omitted in this place.* 

The following statement of receipts and expenditures, taken from 
a recent periodical, deserves preservation: 


Cross ^Realized Capital . 

Shareholders’ capital ....... 

Sale of bonds ........ 

Egyptian convention . . . . . . 

Imperial arbitration ....... 

Rates of exchange ....... 

Various receipts received by the company 

Total capital . . . . 


$40,000,000 

j 9>999>9 8 ° 

5,948,805 

16,800,000 

1,294,260 

6,288,-180 

$90,331,225 


The following is a summary of the expenditures up to the date 
of the opening of the canal: 


General expenditures for preliminary surveys from 1854 to 1859 

General expenses of administration and negotiations between France and Egypt 

Sanitary service, 1866—1869 ........ 

Telegraph service .......... 

Transport service, boats, stock, buildings. 

Payment of contractors for material. 

Dredging machines and heavy plant ....... 

Work-shops . 

Works of construction, canal, and ports ...... 

Miscellaneous ........... 

Expenses of various branches of company management .... 


The average cost of the canal per mile is 


$15,825,525 

3,394.245 
121,410 
34,000 
1,644,435 
3 , 442,785 
6,819,240 
844,150 
43,534,330 
J » 392,495 
3,841,050 

$80,893,665 

$808,936 


* The reader is referred to the reports of the French engineers; to the pamphlet of J. N. 
Nourse, U. S. N.j Blackwood, Dec., 1869; London Times, and other periodicals. 

















































Effects 071 Commerce. 


17 


The balance on hand for the completion of the dredging is 
$9>437>56 o . This sum will probably be sufficient to excavate the 
canal to the uniform depth of 26 feet. 

The effect of the opening of the canal is felt in the revival of 
maritime interests in the Levantine ports. Port Said is the depot 
of seven companies, Russian, French, and Austrian. A Spanish 
company is organizing with the intention of establishing a line 
between Barcelona and the Philippine Islands, and an American 
company is preparing a depot in the Mediterranean. 

In 1869, thirteen hundred and sixty-two ships, amounting to 
637,440 tons, entered Port Said. M. de Lesseps estimates that the 
annual revenue from tolls on the tonnage passing through the canal 
will be $12,000,000. 

The canal has conquered a peace. Its enemies have become its 
most sanguine friends. The benefits it is destined to confer upon 
the commerce of the world, and the changes in the present commer¬ 
cial equilibrium of Europe, although important in their influence and 
immediate in their effects, must be proportionate to the duration of 
the canal as a highway for the commerce of the world. 

The circumstances affecting the permanence of the canal have 
been so ably canvassed, that, apart from the intrinsic importance of 
the question, they deserve attentive consideration. 

The ancient Pharaonic canal connected the Nile with the Red 
Sea, and partly avoided the destruction threatened by the unceasing 
advance of the sand dunes. The absence of harbors on the Med¬ 
iterranean was compensated by the channel of the Nile, which 
afforded a passage over the bar for the light draft ships of that 
period. The French engineers, confident in the resources of modern 
science, have boldly conquered the difficulties which Egyptian engi¬ 
neers dared not encounter. It is well known that the distinguished 
engineer, Robert Stephenson, pronounced the work impracticable,, 
and many cautious investigators have doubted its permanence. 

The objections may be classed under two heads: 

1. To the permanency of the excavation of the canal. 

2. To the permanency of the harbors. 

The arguments relating to the duration of the canal are drawn 
from history and the observations of travelers. 

“ We can not approach history,” says M. de Lesseps, “ without 
touching on Suez.” Its records, fragmentary and uncertain, are hid 
in the mists of five thousand centuries. The stream of its history,, 
now lost, now re-appearing, is joined in its course by the tributary 
traditions of nearly all the Indo-Germanic and Semitic nations. The: 

2 


Teaching of History. 


18 

tramp of armies and the desolation of conquest has alternated with 
periods of intense activity in the arts, sciences, literature, and com¬ 
merce. The Egyptian name, once a synonym of the profoundest 
learning, is now only known to us by an architecture which is still 
invested with a unique and imposing grandeur. 

The value of a canal to afford transportation for the products of 
the East occupied the attention of the Pharaohs at an early date. 
Since the time of Rameses II, it has been repeatedly reconstructed 
and repaired. This Pharaoh, who lived about the period of the 
Mosaic exodus (1400 B. C.), was probably the Sesostris of Aristotle, 
Strabo, and Pliny. 

If the Sesostus of the 12th dynasty was the constructor of the 
canal, its date would be carried back 2730 B. C. Its construction 
has also been attributed to other Egyptian rulers, but with more 
certainty to Nechao, B. C. 625. 

Sir G. Wilkinson accounts for this uncertainty by a very plausible 
explanation. The sandy site of the canal required frequent excava¬ 
tion. These operations gave to successive kings the credit of having 
commenced the work which they only repaired. 

The canal used by the Romans was afterward closed, and subse¬ 
quently re-opened by the Caliph Omar. It was again closed for 134 
years, when it was once more rendered navigable by El Hakim, 
A. D. 1000. It appears at this period to have extended to the Bitter 
Lakes before turning toward the Nile. 

It again became filled with sand between the Nile and - the Bitter 
Lakes. Mohammed Ali closed it entirely, after having lost 10,000 
men from hunger, having hurried them into the desert without suit¬ 
able preparation. At a more recent period, 1000 men died in one 
day from the same want of preparation, having been hurried into the 
desert, at the request of the English authorities, to work on the rail¬ 
road between Suez and Cairo. 

Pliny affirms that the ancient canal had a width of 100 feet and 
a depth of 40 feet as far as the Bitter Lakes, and the geological ev¬ 
idences indicate that the Bitter Lakes were once connected with the 
Red Sea. A stratum of salt, 8 to 10 feet thick, covers the bottom 
of the Lakes, and sea-shells are found in them and between them 
and Suez. 

History for 3300 years bears testimony to the constant movement 
of the sand, burying all obstructions and obliterating channels which 
have lain in its path ; and the statement of Herodotus, that Lower 
Egypt is a gift of the Nile, is sustained by a large number of scien¬ 
tific investigators, who maintain that ancient and modern Egypt was 


Sand Dunes. 


19 


reclaimed from an arm of the sea. When nature acts so constantly 
and irresistibly in one direction, the difficulties of those who contend 
with her can hardly be overstated. 

The winds of Libya, sweeping over the desert, bear the sands 
irresistibly before them. The ruins of Isamboul and Palmyra are 
partly buried or threatened by the sand waves. The base of the 
great Pyramids are concealed, and the gigantic head of Memnon 
and Spynx are partially engulfed. The sand dunes near Ismailia 
move at the rate of ninety-eight feet per annum. 

The following excellent description of the sand dunes is taken 
from Mr. Mitchell’s report: “ In the central part of the land of 
Goshen, where there are broad plains covered with flints, solitary 
dunes are seen, like golden islands, and they are objects of grace 
and beauty in every detail. On near approach to one of them, the 
sands may be seen traveling up the long rear slope before the wind, 
flying in the air at the crest, and falling down the fore slope in a 
perpetual cascade—every-where in motion, but preserving always the 
same faultless curves. Nor do these dunes leave a grain behind them 
to mark their tracks. The homogeneous sands of which they are com¬ 
posed are as fine as those usually seen in an hour-glass, and, like the 
latter, serve to measure the lapse of time in their steady march. The 
prevailing winds in this part of the desert blow from due north, and 
are more steady than at Port Said or Suez. In consequence of this, 
the course of the dunes is so nearly parallel to that of the canal, that 
their slow approach can always be prepared for. They can at any 
time be fixed by covering them with brushwood.” 

Between Lake Timseh and Port Said, it is estimated that 130,000 
cubic yards of sand will be swept into the canal annually. This will 
give employment for one of the largest dredges for three or four 
months, working twelve hours each day. This estimate is based on 
the work done by one of Lavalley’s first-class dredges, which removed 
120,000 cubic yards per month, working day and night. But as the 
material will be distributed in a thin stratum along the entire length 
of this section of the canal, a longer period will be requisite for its 
removal. The able engineers who conducted the operations of exca¬ 
vation express confidence in their ability to keep the depth from de¬ 
creasing. The chief danger from this source, therefore, can only come 
from a suspension of the work of the dredges. 

2. Permanence of the harbors, particularly that of Port Said. 

The reports of Capt. Spratt, Royal Navy, and of Mr. Mitchell, 
U. S. Coast Survey, supply very interesting information on this 
subject. M. Lartet is now publishing, in the Annales des Sciences 


20 


Sediment of the Nile. 


Geologiques , his observations upon the Isthmus. From the map of 
M. Lartet it appears that an arm of the Gulf of Suez once extended, 
by the way of the Bitter Lakes, to the Mediterranean, and that, at 
the same time, the Gulf of Akaba united the waters of the Red Sea 
and the Dead Sea. The endogenous movement which raised the 
mountains of Gebel Attaka and the crystalline rocks surrounding 
the north end of the Red Sea, placed the first barrier between the 
seas, and, by a succession of seismic movements, raised the cretaceous 
plateau of Egypt and Syria, or Palestine. 

The mouth of the Nile at this period must have emptied into the 
Mediterranean, near the great Pyramid of Gizah; and here the river 
must have begun to lay the foundation of modern Egypt along the 
border of the cretaceous formation. 

Thus the geological record is in harmony with the traditions of 
the Priests as handed down to us by Herodotus, “ Egypt is a gift of 
the Nile.” Within historic times, the elevating movement has been 
inappreciable. The Nile still continues to roll down its plenteous 
bounty of sand, and to spread unceasingly its desolating influence 
over the plains of Suez and along the coast of Egypt as far as 
Syria. 

Capt. Pratt, in the Medina, made a careful survey of the coast, 
sounding and dredging with sufficient minuteness to determine the 
limit of Nile influence. Within this limit, the bottom was found to 
be composed of siliceous sands, differing in no respect from the sands 
of the desert about the Pyramids. Outside of the Nile sand, the 
bottom of the sea was found to be composed exclusively of calcarious 
particles. The suspended matter, which is greatest during the Nile 
floods, driven eastward along the coast, accumulates upon the beach 
in the form of dunes, and overwhelms the huts of the coast guard 
and the fishermen, and, in twelve months, nearly buried the Mosque 
of Brulos. Commencing its devastating march, it advances irresisti¬ 
bly toward Suez. 

The Nile brings down a prodigious quantity of sand, which is 
swept into the river by the Libyan winds, and borne by the current 
to the sea, mingled with fragments of pottery from the villages on 
the banks. The quantity of sand brought into the sea has excited 
the astonishment of the most experienced students of delta forma¬ 
tions. The Ganges, the Indus, the Dneipper, the Danube, and the 
Mississippi, the Yang-Tse-Kiang, and the Hoang Ho bring down 
annually millions of tons of solid matter to add to the accretions at 
their mouths. 

The whole amount carried yearly into the Gulf of Mexico by all 


geological map 

or 

PALESTINE AND LOWER EGYPT 



Volcttnic Koc,ft*r 


' \ JPrjtrfl 7h*‘£fotfjr if 7£ece*it 

2 , 9 '^ 

f$&?4 dwoaUreon*' <j f ■/Vfsjbcct, C*fi3 

TO. 


ffTTH Cry&tcUlinc Tlocfc# 




MAU AA 





































































































































Silting up of Port Said. 


21 


the passes of the Mississippi is seven hundred and fifty millions of 
cubic feet, or a mass of one mile square and twenty-seven feet thick. 
“ As the cubical contents of the whole mass of the bar at the South¬ 
west pass is equal to a solid of one mile square and four hundred 
and ninety feet thick, it would require fifty-five years to form the 
bar as it now exists.” * 

Since the time of Strabo the Nile has advanced the coast line 
of Egypt, by its yearly contributions of sand, from four to six miles 
into the sea. Any interruptions of the littoral currents greatly accel¬ 
erates this result Such is the well-known effect of jetties and moles. 
Since the construction of the mole at Port Said, the shore line has 
advanced 1213 feet in eight years. Eighty-eight feet of this distance 
was made in the last six months. “ If the shore line continues to 
advance,” Mr. Mitchell remarks, “at any thing like its present rate, 
the dry land will extend to the end of the mole in forty years. The 
shoaling of the entrance to the harbor will keep pace with the advance 
of the shore line, and before the end of twenty years an extension 
of the mole will be necessary.” 

The silting up of the interior of the harbor by the sand which 
sifts through the interstices of the concrete block is regarded by 
Mr. Mitchell as a more serious evil. But as it may not be imprac¬ 
ticable to close these interstices, this danger does not seem compar¬ 
able to that which must arise from the unceasing eastward movement 
of the sands brought down by the Nile. It was for this reason that 
Alexander placed his city to the west of the mouth of the Nile. 

The boldness and skill displayed in the construction of the harbor 
of Port Said may be appreciated from these facts. The excavation 
of the canal presented comparatively little difficulty. The entire cost 
of the canal and harbors was about forty-three and a half millions of 
dollars, or more than half of the entire cost of the work, which in¬ 
cludes the expenses of hospitals, negotiations, surveys, machinery, 
and the miscellaneous expenses of administration, amounting in the 
aggregate to $80,893,665. 

The doubts of the permanent value of the Suez Canal, as ex¬ 
pressed by Lord Palmerston and Sir Robert Stephenson, do not 
appear to have been without sound and reasonable foundation. It is 
evident that a few years of war will, as in the days of the Pharaohs, 
Ptolemies, the Caesars, and the Caliphs, necessitate a reconstruction 
on a scale almost as great as that which has recently challenged the 
admiration of the civilized world. 


* See Delta Report of Generals Humphreys and Abbot. 



22 


Influence of Commerce . 


It is unnecessary to say any thing of the harbor of Suez. The 
difficulties encountered at this point were much more easily con¬ 
quered than at Port Said. 

The Egyptian Government has provided excellent docks and 
every facility for the repairing of ships at the southern terminus. 


CHAPTER II. 


Influence of Commerce—Distances Reduced by the Suez Canal—Tables showing the Gain of the 
United States and European Ports—Navigation by way of Red Sea and Good Hope—Napoleon 
III on Advantages of the American Route—Darien and Suez Canals as parts of one system 
of Navigation—Lieut. Maury on Darien Canal j its influence on the Resources of the Basin 
of the Mississippi—Table of Distances by Cape and Canal—Saving to the Commerce of the 
World—Table showing how far the great Maritime States are interested in the American 
Canal—Advantages of Suez and Darien Canals. 

S TATISTICS have been accumulated to show to what extent 
commerce will be benefited by the Suez Canal. The question 
of choice of route is not dependent on distance alone. The 
winds and currents are natural advantages or dangers which the 
navigator skillfully avoids or employs. Steam, while it enables a 
vessel to contend with wind and current, is yet obliged to obey their 
dictates. The distance of coaling stations, the large space occupied 
by fuel to the exclusion of freight, renders steam desirable rather as 
an auxiliary than as the sole means of propulsion. 

The Suez Canal has reduced the distances from European ports 
to India about one-half. England derives an equal advantage, yet 
she has justly regarded with apprehension the diversion of trade from 
the old route. Anticipating the day when she would be compelled 
to acquiesce in the opening of the new highway, she has shrewdly 
secured the military command of the new course of trade which 
threatens her monopoly. 

For the United States, the distances to the East are reduced to 
from 2000 to 4000 miles. But on account of winds and currents for 
homeward-bound ships, the o*ld route by way of Cape Horn is still 
preferable. 

The following table, computed by M. de Lesseps, exhibits the 
distances from European and American ports to Bombay: 



Tables showing the Gain of U. S. and European Ports. 23 


PORTS. 


Constantinople, 

Malta. 

Trieste. 

Marseilles. 

Cadiz. 

Lisbon. 

Bordeaux. 

Havre.......... 

London. 

Liverpool. 

Amsterdam.... 
St. Petersburg. 

New York. 

New Orleans... 


BY CAPE HORN. 

BY SUEZ CANAL. 

SAVING EFFECTED 

BY CANAL. 

MILES. 

MILES. 

MILES. 

14,760 

4 , 35 ° 

10,410 

I 4 ,I 3 0 

4 , 99 ° 

9,140 

14,420 

5,660 

8,760 

13,675 

5,745 

7 , 93 ° 

12,584 

5,384 

7,200 

12,960 

6,050 

6,910 

13,670 

6,770 

6,900 

I 4 ,° 3 0 

6,830 

7,200 

14,400 

7,500 

6,900 

14,280 

7 , 38 o 

6,900 

14,400 

7,500 

6,900 

15,850 

8,950 

6,900 

15,000 

9,100 

5,900 

15,600 

9,000 

6,600 


The subjoined table contains distances from London, New York, 
and Port Royal to certain Eastern ports, compared with distances to 
the same ports from New York via the Pacific Railroad and Darien: 


ORIENTAL PORTS 

LONDON, 

VIA SUEZ. 

NEW YORK, 

VIA SUEZ. 

.T 

< 

> . 

0 N 
« W 

s 

b ” 

0 < 

fc > 

NEW YORK, 

VIA PAC. R. R. 

Melhnurne..... 

MILES- 
I 1,280 

MILES. 

I 2.200 

MILES. 

I 2.700 

MILES. 

IO, 700 

Shanghai. 

I I.COA 

* j» 

12,500 

I 1,700 

I 1,600 

13,000 

11,100 

8,850 

9,300 

q,6oo 

Hon? K.on?... 

10,469 

9,639 

8.220 

Manila... 

12,200 

Singapore..... 

10,300 

10,500 

9 , 95 ° 

9,700 

8,750 

10,800 

10,600 

Batavia..... 


11,000 

11,000 

Penang.. . 

7,859 

7,964 

7,946 

10,430 

12,200 

9 , 2 5 ° 

11,000 

Calcutta. 

Ceylon........ 

12,150 

12,200 

Yeddo. 

Romhay ........ 


0,000 



Vokoha ma.___........ 


11,504 








MILES. 

I 0,400 
I I,IOO 
10,850 
I 1,500 
12,800* 
12,55° 
12,800 
14,350 
14,300 
10,200 


According to the first table, distances from the European and 
American ports therein named are shortened one-half. According 
to the second table, the distances to Oriental ports, from the great 
European and American entrepots, are greater by the Darien route; 


*17,738 miles during S. W. monsoon. For a part of this table I am indebted to Com. B. 
F. Sands, U. S. N. 


























































24 Napoleon III on Advantages of the American Route. 

but by reason of winds and currents, the voyage by the way of Suez 
is from four to five days longer. 

In the Red Sea the prevailing winds are from the north, which 
retard the steamers and compel the sailing ships to beat up to Suez. 
“From Suez to Ceylon,” according to the London Times , “the winds 
are unfavorable. From Point de Galle to Swan River, terrible hurri¬ 
canes sweep the Indian Ocean. Along the coast of New South 
Wales, violent winds prevail from the westward, causing a prodigious 
sea to arise, which nearly precludes navigation in that direction.” 

The route by way of Good Hope is beset by gales from the 
south-west and north-west, rendering the return passage a matter of 
great uncertainty; but by Darien or Panama route, going or re¬ 
turning, regular voyages and smooth seas may be counted on with 
precision. 

For steam, but more especially for sailing vessels, the American 
route, lying in the zone of the trade-winds, possesses special 
advantages. Outgoing and returning ships may trim their sails 
to favorable winds ; and the experienced navigator may have the 
aid of confluent currents, and enter the monsoons at greater ad¬ 
vantage. 

Napoleon III, when a prisoner in Ham, thoroughly examined the 
advantages of the American route. “ In regard to the United States 
of America,” he observes, “all the distances would be shortened 1400 

miles and fifteen days ”-“ Europe would gain forty-seven days in 

a voyage to the coast of South America, while the United States 
would gain sixty-two days. To China and Sidney, Europe would 
gain twenty-nine days, and the United States twenty-four days.” 

But it is not as rivals that the two routes should be compared, 
but as parts of the same system by which maritime nations are 
brought into commercial union. The benefit which each route will 
confer upon commerce is doubled by considering the effects of both 
together. The one opens the gates to the East, the other to the 
West. While one route is favorable to outward ships, the other 
affords equal advantages to the homeward bound, so that in many 
cases the most desirable route would lead to a circumnavigation of 
the globe. 

To appreciate the importance of such a system of navigation, and 
exhibit some of the advantages of the American route, it may be well 
to compare it with the old route, by the way of the Cape, which will 
still remain the principal highway to the East. 

“The Englishman,” says Lieut. Maury, “meets the American in 
all the markets of the world with the advantage of ten days or up- 



Table of Distances by Cape and Canal. 


25 


ward. Cut through the Isthmus, and instead of some ten days* 
sail or more, the scale would be turned, and we shall have the 
advantage of some twenty days’ sail, thus making a difference of 
thirty or forty days under canvas.” The distance between New 
York, China, India, and Australia, and the west coast of South 
America exceeds that by way of Cape Horn from 8,000 to 14,000 
miles. 

To the States lying in the great basin of the Mississippi, and to 
all the cities situated on its navigable waters, the gain is much greater. 
These parts of the continent, now secluded by their position from 
direct trade with the west coast of South America and the Indies, 
will be brought into closer commercial relations with these ports of 
the world. With but one transhipment, the silk, teas, spices, and 
fabrics of India, China, Japan, and the Pacific Islands may be landed 
on the banks of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio. 

The following tables, taken from the Report of Lieut. Maury to 
the Committee on Naval Affairs, will show the sailing distance from 
New York and Liverpool to the principal ports beyond and around 
Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope. The distances to South 
and North Pacific ports are greatly reduced by the Darien or Panama 
route • 



FROM 

LIVERPOOL. 

FROM 

NEW YORK. 

To Calcutta, via Cape of Good Hope . 

MILES. 

16,000 

MILES. 

1 7 . 5 00 
23,000 

21.500 
19,500 
12.000 

Calcutta, via Cape Horn. 

2,1,500 

20,000 

Canrnn, via Cape Horn. 

Canton, via Cape of Good Hope. 

18,000 • 

Valparaiso via Cape Horn....... 

11,400 
12,000 
12,800 
14,50° 
16,300 
16,500 
17,000 
I 7 i 5 °° 

Callao, via Cape Horn. 

Guayaquil, via Cape Horn. . . 

. 13,500 
14 , 3 °° 
16,000 
17,800 
18,000 

Panama, via Cape Horn....... 

San Rlas, via Cape Horn... 

Mazatlan, via Cape Horn ..... 

San Diego, via Cape Horn . 

San Francisco, via Cape Horn . 

18,500 

19,000 


The following table shows the saving of time from New York by 
the new route, via the Isthmus of Panama, as compared with the old 
routes, via Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope, to the places therein 
named, estimating the distance which a common trading ship will 
sail per day to be one hundred and ten miles, and calculating for the 
voyage out and home: 






















26 


Saving to the Commerce of the World. 


FROM N. Y. TO 

DISTANCE VIA 

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 

LENGTH OF PASSAGE 

OUT AND HOME. 

DISTANCE VIA CAPE 

HORN. 

LENGTH OF PASSAGE 

OUT AND HOME. 

DISTANCE VIA THE 

ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 


MILES 

DAYS 

MILES 

DAYS 

MILES 

Calcutta. 

17,500 

3 l8 

23 ,° 0 O 

418 

I 3,400 

Canton. 

19,50° 

354 

21,500 

39 ° 

I O, 600 

Shanghai. 

20,000 

362 

22,000 

400 

I 0,400 

Valparaiso. 



12,900 

234 

4,80© 

Callao. 



I 2 . COO 

24.4. 

2 . COO 




4 ) 4 

II 

J' J W 

Guayaquil. 



I 4 ) 3 °° 

260 

2,800 

Panama. 



16.000 

2 QO 

2,000 

San Bias. 



17,800 

y 

322 

3,800 

Mazatlan. 



18,000 

326 

A.OOO 

San Diego. 



18,500 

336 

4,50° 

San Francisco. 



19,000 

344 

5,000 

Wellington, N. Z. 

13 , 74 ° 


11,100 


8,480 

Melbourne, Australia.. 

I 3 , 2 3 ° 


12,720 


9,890 


LENGTH OF PASSAGE 

OUT AND HOME. 

SAVING IN DISTANCE 

OVER THE ROUTE BY 

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 

TIME SAVED BY ISTHMUS 

OVER TIME BY CAPE 

HOPE, OUT AND HOME. 

DAYS 

244 

I92 

188 

86 

62 

5 ° 

36 

68 

72 

82 

90 

MILES 

4 , IO ° 
8,900 
9,600 

DAYS 

74 

162 

174 















5,26° 

3 , 34 ° 





SAVING IN DISTANCE 

OVER THE ROUTE BY 

CAPE HORN. 

TIME SAVED BY ISTHMUS 

OVER TIME BY CAPE 

HOPE, OUT AND HOME. 1 

MILES 

DAYS 

9,600 

174 

10,900 

198 

II,600 

212 

8,100 

I48 

10,000 

182 

11,500 

210 

14,000 

254 

14,000 

254 

14,000 

2 54 

14,000 

254 

14,000 

2 54 

2,620 


2,830 



The following condensed statement, from tables carefully prepared 
by an advocate of intermarine canals, exhibits some of the commer¬ 
cial advantages depending upon the completion of the route: 

Table showing the saving to the trade of the world, in insurance on vessels 
and cargoes, interest on cargoes, saving of wear and tear of ships, and 
saving of wages, provisions, etc., by using the Isthmus Canal: 


United States......* ’"$ 35 ) 995 ) 93 ° 

England. 9 ) 95 °) 34-8 

France. 2,183,930 

Other countries. 1,400,000 

Total yearly saving.$49,530,208 


Exports of Great Britain increased one hundred and seven per 
cent, in ten years ; exports of France increased one hundred and 
thirty per cent, in ten years ; exports of the United States increased 
ninety-three per cent, in ten years. If the trade increases one hun¬ 
dred per cent, in the next ten years, the saving to the world will 
then be ninety-nine millions sixty thousand four hundred and sixteen 
dollars ($99,060,416) per annum. 

Taking this statement as a basis, and representing the gross 
pecuniary interest of the United States in the proposed canal as 
unity, the saving to Great Britain will be one-fourth, to France one- 
eighteenth, and to all other countries one-thirty-fifth. 

























































Saving to the Commerce of the World. 


27 


This preponderance of interest on the part of the United States 
may be taken to imply a proportionate share in the cost. Such 
would be a correct conclusion if our Government retained control 
of the route. Surrendering the latter claim, she relinquishes with it 
her proportionate liability, and is entitled to be received as one of the 
contracting parties upon terms of equality. The respective shares 
of the parties is, however, a proper subject for diplomatic arrange¬ 
ment. But while the greatest saving accrues to the United States, 
the absolute value of our oriental exports and imports is about equal 
to that of Great Britain, and about double that of France and other 
countries. 


Neutralization of the Isthmus is only, in appearance, a suspension/ 
of the policy understood as the Monroe Doctrine. It can be made^ 
an international recognition of that policy. Such objections, even 
if well founded, sink into insignificance in comparison with the ben¬ 
efits which must accrue to mankind at large. The United States 
has not shown herself so incapable of adopting a policy in accordance 
with her high destiny, as to justify a suspicion that she will ever by 
her acts sanction the selfish theory that “nations may combine to 
oppress and plunder, but rarely for any useful or benevolent purpose.” 
The progress of events has already made her an arbiter in the destiny 
of nations, and she can no longer, by an insular and anti-social policy, 
separate herself from the interests of the great family of nations. 
Mutual and liberal concessions in the generous spirit of our civiliza¬ 
tion, looking to the extension of commerce, industry, arts, science, 
and religion throughout the world, can alone lead to that harmonious 
cooperation without which an interoceanic ship canal must remain 
forever problematical. 

The above tables supply material for other important conclusions. 
Eighteen vessels, sailing from as many different ports in East India, 
China, Japan, Australia, and South America, would save the average 
distance of 8,791 miles, equivalent to a voyage by sail of about eighty 
days, or to between thirty-six and forty days by steam. 

Supposing the average tonnage of ships to be one thousand tons, 
then three thousand and ninety-four steamships would be requisite 
to carry the freight which would now seek the Isthmus annually. 
The saving of time to trade and to each man would be about three 
and four-tenths years to every generation of thirty-three years. The 
amount of tonnage above mentioned would give employment to 86,632 
seamen, giving to them, by the new route, a saving of time in one 
generation amounting to the aggregate of 294,548 years. The ben¬ 
efits being diffused among all engaged or interested, directly or indi- 


28 


Saving to the Commerce of the World. 


rectly, the accession to the time, wealth, and industry of so large a 
number of men is not only a great economic and commercial advan¬ 
tage, but may be regarded as participating in the nature of those 
beneficent, moral movements which characterize the age. 

The annual saving to the trade of the world is shown to be 
$49,530,208.00. The annual increase of the trade of Great Britain, 
France, and the United States is together more than one hundred 
per cent. The saving to the maritime powers in one year at the end 
of a decade will be $99,060,416.00. Assuming the trade of the three 
powers to increase in the same ratio, the total amount saved at the 
end of ten years will be equal to the aggregate of the amounts saved 
each year, and foots up as follows: 


Amount saved at end of first year.$54,483,228.80 

“ “ “ second year. 59,436,249.60 

u 11 “ third year. 64,389,270.4c 

“ M “ fourth year. 69,342,291.20 

u “ “ fifth year. 74,295,312.00 

“ “ “ sixth year. 79,248,332.80 

“ “ “ seventh year. 84,201,353.60 

u “ “ eighth year. 89,154,374.40 

“ 11 “ ninth year. 94,107,395.20 

lt u 11 tenth year. 99,060,416.10 

Entire amount saved in ten years..$767,718,224.10 


This result is verified by an estimate based upon the tonnage 
which will be actually engaged in this trade: 


Maintenance of ship and crew of 1000 tons. $500 per month. 

Interest of per cent, on tonnage worth $17,000.,. 255 “ 

Insurance at 1 per cent, on value of ship worth $18,000. 180 11 

Saving per month. ^$935 

Add reduction of insurance upon ship and cargo at I per cent... 350 
Total saving per month.$128? 


The annual saving for each ship will be $15,420, giving as the 
aggregate saved upon the tonnage which would pass the Isthmus 
the sum of $47,709,480, and the saving of one year at the end of a 
decade as $95,418,960, a sum sufficiently near the first to establish 
its correctness. 

The following tables were compiled by Mr. F. W. Kelley, of New 
York, and were intended to exhibit the effect upon the trade of the 
world by the completion of the canal through the Isthmus: 
























Interest of Maritime States in American Canal. 


29 


Table showing the trade of the U. S. that would pass through the Isthmus 
Canal, if now finished. Taken from the official returns for 1857. 


COUNTRIES TRADED WITH 


EXPORTS AND 
IMPORTS. 


TONNAGE. 


Russian North American Possessions.... 

Dutch East Indies. 

British Australia and New Zealand. 

British East Indies. 

French East Indies. 

Half of Mexico. 

Half of New Grenada. 

Central America. 

Chili. 

Peru. 

Equador. 

Sandwich Islands. 

China. 

Other ports in Asia and Pacific. 

Whale fisheries. 

California to East United States.. 

Value of cargoes.. 

Value of ships, at $50 per ton.. 

Total value of ships and cargoes 


$ 126,537 

9 ° 4 , 55 ° 

4,728,083 

II » 744 »> 5 1 

98,432 

9,601,063 

5 , 375,354 
425,081 
6,645,634 
7 1 6,679 
48,979 
h I5U849 
12,752,062 
80,143 
10,796,090 
3 5,000,000 

$100,294,687 

92,874,25° 

$193,168,937 


$ 5,735 

16,589 
52,105 
177,121 
3,665 

34,673 

131,708 

36,599 
63,749 
193 , 1 3 I 
U 979 
33, 8 76 
123,578 
4,549 
116,730 
861,698 

$ 1,857,485 


$ 92,874,250 


“Whale ships and coasting vessels have been estimated generally 
throughout this appendix at forty dollars ($40) per ton. The United 
States and European commerce around the Capes is conducted in 
first-class ships, which often cost eighty dollars ($80) per ton. Fifty 
dollars ($50) have therefore been taken as the fair average value in 
the construction of this table, which does not include coasting trade.” 


Table showing the trade of England that would pass through the Isthmus 
Canal, if now finished. Taken from the official returns for 1856 


COUNTRIES TRADED WITH. 

EXPORTS AND 

IMPORTS. 

TONNAGE. 

Half nf Mpxiro . 

$ 2,775,137 

1,244,817 
2,437,605 
15,486,110 
20,473,520 
360,015 

7 , 077 , 39 ° 

3,821,410 

4,364,070 

78,246,095 

520,560 

2 , 378 ,i o 5 

$ 11,833 

5,615 

IO,l88 
Il 8 , 3 II 
244,319 
1,820 
68 , 53 ° 
16,003 
I 6,500 
522,426 
1 , 95 ° 
11,800 

Half nf Central Amprira. 

Half nf New Grenada . . 




Chinn 1 . ( 

Java > Outward ; only 40 days saved by the canal.-< 

Singapore j . V. 

Australia and New Zp aland.-,.,.,.. 



Value of* tr^Hp tt . -r . 

39 , 1 84,834 
51,464,750 

$190,649,584 

$ 1,029,295 


Total value of trade and ships. 

$ 5 1 ,464, 75 ° 































































30 


Advantages of Suez and Darien Canals. 


Table showing the trade of France that would pass through the Isthmus 
Canal , if now finished. Taken from the official returns for 1857. 


COUNTRIES TRADED WITH. 

EXPORTS AND 

IMPORTS. 

TONNAGE. 

Chili. 

$ 10,000,000 
13,160,000 
2,790,000 
1,090,000 
440,000 
100,000 
a,07 3,859 

2,180,000 

4,440,000 

2,000,000 

1,000,000 

19,800,000 

$ 25,688 

35,096 
10,004 
2,389 
1,651 
1,000 
8,997 
2,028 
20 ,400 
4,H9 
^463 

50,000 

Peru. 

Half of lVfpYiro... 

Half of New Orenada. 

Equador. 

Bolivia. 

California . 

Dutch East Indies } ° utwan * onl ^.{ 

Sandwich Island!! . 

Philippine Islands. 

Australia... 

Value of cargoes. 

$ 59,073,859 
8,136,75° 

$ 162,735 

at $50 per ton 

Value of ships. 

Total value. 

$ 67,210,609 

$ 8,136,750 


The value of the tonnage which would take the Darien route is, 
according to the above table, $152,475,750, and the total value of 
exports and imports passing the same way is: 


England.$193,168,939 

United States. 190,649,584 

France. 67,210,609 

Total value of trade passing the Isthmus.$451,029,132 


But the aggregate amount of British imports and exports from 
and to India and China is $378,587,122, giving the value of the trade 
which would pass through the Suez and Darien Canals $636,447,315, 
yearly. 

The rapidly growing trade between Levantine ports and India 
would take the Suez route, but between the European ports and the 
Pacific coast of North and South America, and between the east and 
west coasts of these two continents, the American route would be 
exclusively employed. 

In selecting a route to oriental ports it is evident, from the facts 
of physical geography, as stated by Lieut. Maury, Napoleon III, and 
the writer in the London Times , that the navigator seeking to make 
a rapid voyage would adopt the American route both going and re¬ 
turning, except, perhaps, between Levantine and Indian ports. Be¬ 
tween French, English, Levantine, and Indian ports, the outward 
voyage by way of Darien, or Panama, and homeward by way of 
Suez would, in many cases, be favorable to the quickest trip. 

































Darien Canal as an American Project. 31 

The Suez Canal was built by French talent, French energy, 
French machinery, and French money. England and the Mediter¬ 
ranean States participate in the benefit. But the larger share of the 
profit belongs to France, by reason of her ports and industrial re¬ 
sources ; and so far as France and the Levant enter into a direct 
trade with India, so far, it has been supposed, will the value of trade 
between Great Britain and India be impaired. 

We have spoken of the piercement of the American Isthmus as 
an international work. It should rather be the work of American 
energy, American talent, and American money. It is part of the 
American continent. No foreign nation can have the same military 
control of it that Great Britain now has of the Suez Canal. The 
benefit of its construction, although shared by the maritime powers, 
will be most important to the Americas, and by reason of resources, 
organization, and position, especially to the United States. It deserves 
consideration as an American project. 


CHAPTER III. 


The Canal considered as an American Project exclusively—Currents and Winds—Resources of 
the Basins of the Rivers of the Gulf and Caribbean Sea—Their Productive Capacity com¬ 
pared with the Mediterranean Basins. 

L ET the reader refer to Berghaus’s map of winds and currents, 
and any map of the alluvial basins of the river systems of 
Europe and America. He will observe that the Caribbean Sea 
and Gulf of Mexico constitute but one sea, partially divided by the 
West Indies and Cuba, which, stretching toward Yucatan, is separated 
from that part of Central America by a channel 100 miles wide and 
6000 feet deep. 

The equatorial current, crossing the ocean with the trade winds, 
enters the Caribbean Sea, and, passing between Cuba and Yucatan 
into the Gulf of Mexico, flows out through the Strait of Florida. 
Ships from the east following this current are led in the path of 
favorable winds, both going and returning. 

The Pacific trade winds and equatorial current are equally favor¬ 
able to the outward and homeward bound voyager. The skillful 



32 


Currents and Winds. 


navigator shapes his course north of the equatorial current when 
returning from China to San Francisco or Panama. 

The Humboldt and Mexican currents aid the coastwise trade. 
Thus, by the converging winds and currents, this great intertropical 
sea seems to be designated by nature as the future commercial center 
of the world. 

The two American seas have been styled by Lieut. Maury as the 
heart of the continent. Its two compartments have been compared 
to the auricle and ventricle of the human heart, through which, in 
regular pulsations, by unceasing systole and dyastole, the ocean 
currents find constant entrance and exit, and circulate through all 
the world-arteries their vivifying influence. 

Pursuing the analogy, the two continents, from their general 
shape and the alimentary part they perform, may not inaptly be 
compared to the lungs, which convert the blood of commerce into 
the nutrient and productive elements which contribute to the health 
and growth of the nationalities of two continents. 

The rivers having their natural outlet in the Caribbean Sea and 
the Gulf of Mexico, bring into commercial union two regions pro¬ 
ducing all the commodities of the globe. The rivers of North 
America bear to the Gulf the successive harvests of the temperate 
zone, and receive in return the fruits, woods, dyes, drugs, spices, 
coffee, cotton, and tobacco of intertropical America. 

No part of the globe combines so many natural advantages as 
are found united around this body of water. Its shores present every 
advantage of soil, climate, vegetation, and convenient harbors likely 
to attract an enterprising and commercial people. The table lands 
of Mexico, Yucatan, Guatemala, Honduras, and Columbia afford the 
most salubrious climate, scenery of the rarest beauty and sublimity, 
equable temperature, and an endless succession of fruits and harvests. 
Mountains of perpetual snow look down on plains of unceasing ver¬ 
dure. All that is requisite for the support of life grows spontane¬ 
ously. 

The descriptions of Humboldt represent the table lands as suitable 
to the highest development of the race. One wonders that the tide 
of immigration, guided by the rational instinct for superior advan¬ 
tages, has not filled every bay and estuary and overspread the plains ; 
or, sweeping down from the north, the Anglo-Americans have not 
taken possession, as the hardy races of the North of Europe overran 
the degenerate mixture of nations which oVerspread the northern 
shores of the Mediterranean. 

Those portions of the world which possess the finest climate, 


I 


Basins of Rivers of Gulf and Caribbean Sea. 


33 


whose soil returns the largest yield from the least amount of labor, 
are held by degenerate and effete representatives of a moribund 
civilization. 

In America no alpine barrier interrupts communication with the 
interior, but an indefinite expanse of plains, prairies, and table lands 
stretch away to the north, or form broad plateau, as in Central and 
South America. 

Millions of square miles of arable lands are intersected by rivers 
of unrivaled extent. The Mississippi, rising in such proximity to the 
northern lakes as to make their shores tributary to the trade of its 
valley, flows through twenty degrees of latitude before reaching the 
Gulf of Mexico. The Amazon, nearly at right-angles with the Mis¬ 
sissippi, developing its course chiefly in longitude, bears the varied 
products of its valley to the ocean, where the equatorial current 
makes it tributary to the Caribbean Sea. The Amazon is more 
directly connected with this sea by the Orinoco, with which it is 
united by the Rio Negro. Humboldt surveyed the channel joining 
the two rivers, and ascertained the feasibility of a navigable channel 
between them at high water. 

The different positions of the main commercial arteries of the two 
continents—the one extending through temperate latitudes, the other 
through tropical longitudes—supply the greatest variety of commod¬ 
ities for commercial interchange. The Mediterranean system, finding 
its most extensive development in longitude, is limited in the variety 
of its products by the climatic uniformity of one zone. While Ameri¬ 
can rivers flow through twenty-five degrees of latitude, the European 
rivers of the Mediterranean extend through but ten degrees. 

Berghaus’s map supplies data for a comparison of the river system 
of the two great continent-bounded seas of the Eastern and Western 
Hemispheres: 


SQUARE MILES. 

.... 2,231,000 

.... 180,000 
.... 72,000 
.... 250,000 
.... 1,512,000 


Area of the Mississippi basin, including the basins of its tributaries, the Missouri, 


Ohio, Arkansas, Red River, etc. 
Rio del Norte..... 



Entire area of basins which drain into the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea... 4,245,000 


Area of the Basins of the Mediterranean Systems of Rivers. 


European, Euxine, and Caspian 
Basin of tbe Nile.. 


SQUARE MILES. 

.... 1,890,000 
.... 520,000 


Area of basins of the Mediterranean rivers. 


3 


2,410,000' 












34 Productive Capacity compared with Mediterranean Basins. 

Area of basin of the river system of the Gulf of Mexico and the 
Caribbean Sea is 4,245,000 square miles, a productive area nearly 
double that of the Mediterranean, which it exceeds by 1,835,000 
square miles. 

In the extent of its navigable rivers, the difference is proportion¬ 
ately large. The Mississippi and its tributaries constitute a continu¬ 
ous channel for steam navigation of 12,000 miles in extent, which 
would be nearly doubled by reckoning the length of the navigable 
channels at the period of high water. 

The river system of the Mediterranean, Euxine, and the Caspian, 
to which may be added that of the Nile, will not together exceed 
5000 miles, or less than half the length of navigable channels of the 
American system. 

The natural advantages of the Mediterranean of America may be 
summed up as follows: with double the productive area, it has ca¬ 
pacity for a greater variety of products, by reason of its variety of 
climate; it has double the extent of navigable rivers, which pour 
their bounties into the same sea ; and not only are the rivers and 
continents tributary to this region, but the ocean currents and winds, 
converging at the same point, bring the products of the Orient to 
exchange for those of the New World. 

In a letter addressed to Mr. Rockwell, M. C., at that time secre¬ 
tary of the special committee to whom was referred a resolution of 
Congress, asking for information respecting routes to the Pacific, 
Lieut. Maury has, with signal ability and in not too glowing language, 
sketched the future of the American Mediterranean, (which is des¬ 
tined to surpass its European prototype,) whose fine harbors will 
become the marts of an opulent trade and the centers of a higher 
standard of civilization. 

These desirable ends will be greatly accelerated by the interma¬ 
rine canal between the two seas, by which the trade of China and 
Japan may meet the commodities of Europe— 

“ Argosies of stately sails, 

Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly jales,” 


and the products brought down by the Mississippi and the Amazon 
into the Gulf of Mexico. 


Effect of Canal on Commerce of the Mississippi Valley. 


35 


CHAPTER IV. 


Effect of the Canal on the Interest of the Valley of the Mississippi—Pacific Railroad as a Rival 
of the Isthmean Canal—Rates of Freight on Ocean, Lakes, Rivers, Canals, and Railroads— 
San Francisco and the Trade of China and Japan—Considerations of General Interest— 
Probable Revenue. 

T HE products of the Valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries 
may be collected at points along the river, to be shipped direct 
for China, Japan, Australia; and the products of the Orient 
may be brought, without breaking bulk, to Galveston, New Orleans, 
Mobile, Pensacola, Appalachicola, and even Memphis, Cairo, St. Louis, 
Louisville, and Cincinnati, thence to be distributed by the river sys¬ 
tem, which extends throughout the States of the South, and reaches 
even to the borders of British America. With one, or at most two, 
transhipments, the produce of the Indies may be transported, by the 
way of the Illinois river, or the projected improvement of the Fox 
and Wisconsin rivers, to Chicago and Lake Michigan, thence to be 
distributed throughout the shores of the northern lakes. 

Teas, silks, Japanese and East India goods may be transported 
by way of the ship canal and the Mississippi river, and delivered at 
St. Louis at one-third or one-fourth the cost of transportation of the 
same articles by the Pacific railroad. While the Pacific railroad is a 
great national highway, bringing into political and commercial union 
two great sections of the country, building up cities, opening mines, 
bringing under cultivation a vast extent of arable land along its route, 
the proposed canal across the American Isthmus must be the sole 
dispenser of the bulkier products of China and the Indies. 

The question may be asked how far the railroads constructed and 
to be constructed between the Atlantic and Pacific, especially within 
the limits of the United States of America, may supersede the com¬ 
mercial advantages which would result from the canalization of the 
Isthmus ? 

Trade has always increased in proportion to the facilities for 
transportation; and it is evident that, even in the most populous 
country, the reciprocal relation of production and consumption may 
be increased by a better organization and a more judicious application 


36 Rates of Freights on Ocean , Lakes , Rivers, Canals , etc. 

of labor. In all cases of competition between railroads with canal, 
lake, or coast trade, the result has been the reduction of rates and 
the increase in the quantity of material transported. Two railroads, 
American and Canadian, skirt the shores of the Northern Lakes, 
making, with the line of lake steamers, three competing lines. The 
consequence of this rivalry has been a reduction upon freight during 
the summer months, to enable the two roads to compete with the 
lake route and canal. 

To exhibit the relative cost of different methods of transportation, 
a statement is subjoined. The following table, compiled from different 
sources, exhibits the cost per ton per mile of transportation of freight 
upon the ocean, lakes, rivers, canals, and railroads: 


TRANSPORTATION BY 

PER TON PER MILE. 

Ocean — long voyage ... 

CENTS. 

MILLS 

I 

Ocean — short 11 ... 


2 tO 4 

2 



r, lung Lu.s.. 


3 to 4 

-i 

St. Lawrence River . 


Hudson River . 


j 

I Cl 

Ohio River — long voyage . 

I 

Ohio River—short 11 .. . 

I 

3-6 

8.37 

O.I 

C 07 

Missouri River — long voyage . . . 


Missouri River — short u . 

2 

Mississippi River — long voyage ... 


Mississippi River — short “ . 


8.5O 

Erie Canal enlargement . 


A 

Railways transporting coal . 

1 to 

*T 

6 

Reading Railroad transporting coal . 

O 71 

Reading Railroad transporting merchandise . 


7 -/ 1 

4.468 

2.8 

0.6 

OO 

Railways — ordinary grades . 

J 

, f for transporting different") . 

3 

6 

Pacific Railroad < . • j r f • . > . 

kinds or freight. J . 

Suez Canal — $2 per ton, transit of 100 miles... . 

2 

Proposed Panama Canal — $1 per ton, transit of 50 miles ... 

1 

OO 





The railroad rates above given have been established upon thor¬ 
oughfares favorable for the attainment of a minimum. But upon all 
roads to be constructed between the Atlantic and Pacific, much 
higher rates must prevail for many years. Hurried construction, 
through a wilderness deficient in material and obstructed by hostile 
savages, must increase the cost of construction. For the same 
reason, the execution of the work is likely to be defective and the 
location of the route imperfect. The expense of alteration and 
repair must be proportionately increased. The cost of stations, 
machine shops, depots of fuel, and supply of water must far exceed 
the disbursements for the same objects in a settled country, pos- 









































San Francisco and the Trade of China and Japan. 37 


sessing the advantages of skilled labor and convenient transporta¬ 
tion. 

To meet the additional expense, the rates for passengers and 
freights will have to be increased to probably six or eight times the 
value assigned for ordinary grades. 

On the other hand, ocean transportation by way of the Isthmean 
Canal, collecting by tolls enough to pay the cost of repair—say one 
dollar per ton transit, or one cent per ton per mile for fifty miles— 
would be but one-fourth the average rate per ton per mile for the 
three thousand miles of transportation on the Pacific Railroad. 

Passengers will always take the quickest route. Valuable pack¬ 
ages of goods, gold, and silver, and even teas and small packages of 
costly silks, will be transported by the railroad. The Pacific coast 
and the interior country lying between the head of navigation of the 
tributaries of the Mississippi, will receive the commodities of the 
East chiefly through the port of San Francisco. 

The following table shows the relative distances of San Francisco 
and London from Oriental ports: 


ORIENTAL PORTS. 


Melbourne . 
Yokohama., 
Shanghai.... 
Hong Kong, 

Manila. 

Singapore.... 

Penang. 

Calcutta.. 

Ceylon. 


MILES. 

11,281 

**,5°4 

io ,469 

9,669 

6,939 

8,239 

7,856 

7,946 

8,646 


z 

< 


MILES. 

7, 9 °2 

7,520 

5,555 

6,355 

6,i35 

7,785 

8,165 

9,665 

9,378 


c 5 

s $ 

> u. 

« z 
< 


MILES. 

3,379 

6,984 

4,9*4 

3,3*4 

3,5°4 

454 


MILES. 


306 

*,7*9 

2,732 


From the above table it is evident that England will have a for¬ 
midable rival for the trade of the East in the Pacific ports, and the 
interior which they will be called on to supply. 

It is manifest that an intermarine canal is not impracticable to 
American talent and energy. It can undoubtedly be executed by in¬ 
ternational cooperation. It is demanded by the common interest, 
commercial, political, and social, of all peoples. It is supported by 
humanitarian considerations, immediate in their influence, broad and 
practical in their relations to the interests of society. 

The chief obstacle to its execution is its cost, which would be 
nearly double that of the Suez Canal. Mr. Kelly estimates that 
































38 


Considerations of General Interest. 


3,090,000 tons would pass through the American canal yearly. As¬ 
suming that its total cost will be 150 millions of dollars, the revenue 
from tolls, at the rate of one cent per ton per mile, would amount to 
nearly twenty per cent, of the entire outlay. 

No work, so costly nor fraught with such stupendous conse¬ 
quences, has ever been attempted by man. The history of civiliza¬ 
tion is the history of the efforts of man to assert the right and to 
increase the means of individual development. The monuments of 
science, skill, and industry, left by ancient nations to perpetuate the 
names and conquests of Kings and Pharaohs, were wrung by oppres¬ 
sion from suffering men. 

To us is left the opportunity for a more extended organization—a 
combined world movement—in the interest of science and religion, 
for the extension of liberty, and for the diffusion of civilization among 
the races of mankind. 

Less than the cost of one year of war, will establish for all time— 
only to be shaken by a paroxysm of nature—this enduring monument 
of peace and good will, and will secure to the United States a con¬ 
quest pregnant with vast moral and political possibilities. It is an 
object worthy of consideration. 

Fifty years ago the Pacific Railroad, the Panama Railroad, the 
Mt. Cenis Tunnel, the International Telegraph and the Suez Canal, 
were visionary schemes. It seemed the acme of poetical fiction when 
the poet spoke of girdling the earth in forty minutes, as the work of 
supernatural agency. Sir Humphrey Davy, making science the basis 
of fiction, attempted to arrive at some conception of the composition 
of distant planets and the nature of their inhabitants. We can now 
send a message across the Atlantic in a minute, and know with cer¬ 
tainty something of the composition of planets, stars, and nebulae. 
These achievements have become the common property of the civil¬ 
ized world. 

The piercement of the Isthmus does not involve greater practical 
nor intellectual difficulties. Neither science, ability, nor energy, is 
wanting. Conviction of its utility, sufficiently wide spread to secure 
the popular good will, and leading to a national movement in favor of 
combined international action, will secure the early completion of this 
great marine highway. 

To secure popular favor it seems only necessary to exhibit the 
material advantages which must flow from its execution. Some of 
the facts, showing how far the completion of the canal would affect 
the commerce of the world, have been stated. 

A small space may be given to the probable revenue. The mod- 


Probable Revenue. 


39 


erate estimate given in Admiral Davis’s report may be assumed as a 
basis, which may be safety taken as doubling itself in ten years. 

The tonnage which would pass the Isthmus yearly is, at one dol¬ 
lar per ton toll, $3,094,070. 

At end of the first year. 

“ u second 11 . 

“ “ third “ .. 

“ “ fourth “ . 

•* “ fifth “ . 

“ “ sixth “ . 

“ u seventh “ . 

“ “ eighth u .. 

“ u ninth “ . 

11 u tenth u . 

Gross receipts for tolls during ten years 

This estimate is undoubtedly less than the revenue which will be 
received. 

No conjectural estimate is made of the probable development of 
the agricultural and mineral wealth of the valleys of the Mississippi 
and the Amazon, of the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, 
and Pacific coast of America. And yet, in attempting to form an 
idea of the probable revenue and actual value of this canal, all the in¬ 
dustrial resources called into being by its influence should be taken 
into consideration. It is like opening the gate to commerce, which, 
for centuries, man has struggled to unlock. 

No event in history has been followed by more marvelous conse¬ 
quences than the discovery of Columbus. So closely is man bound 
up with matter, that every conquest of nature not only adds to his 
material comfort, but opens new fields for the moral and intellectual 
progress of the race. America not only opened new industrial re¬ 
sources, but afforded the population of Europe an opportunity to 
escape from the social, moral, and physical oppression of caste, big¬ 
otry, and capital, which had become intolerable. 

If we could lift the veil which conceals the future, and could see 
“ the vision of the world and the wonder that will be,” it is not im¬ 
probable that we should see the vast elements of progress latent in 
the American continents, working out their legitimate and logical 
results, as wonderful as those which have transpired since the colo¬ 
nization of America. 

We should see the industrial resources—which have drawn thither 
in the struggle for existence the most energetic of the races of the 
globe—giving occupation to a happy and united people. The hum 
of industry, and the din of the steam hammers, would mingle together 


•$ 3^403,477 

. 3,712,884 

. 4,022,291 

■ 4>33 I > 6 9 8 

• 4,641,105 

• 4)95 0 )5 12 

• 5, 2 59,9 I 9 

, 5,569,326 

■ 5 , 878,733 
6,188,140 


,$47,958,085 














40 


Admiral Davis s Report . 


with smoke of furnaces and of factories, above the inexhaustible coal 
fields of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois, and Iowa. The grain of 
Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Kansas would be shipped to New 
Orleans, to be exchanged for the cotton and sugar of the South, and 
the coffee, dyes, and tobacco of Costa Rico, Havana, and Ambelema; 
the magnificent table lands of Mexico, Guatemala, Yucatan, and the 
plateau of Bogota, occupied by a people more highly cultivated and 
capable of appreciating the grandeur of the scenery and salubrity of 
the climate, and of utilizing the fertility of the soil and the physical 
advantages of those most favored regions. 

Opulent cities would spring up in the bays of Tampa, Mobile, and 
Pensacola. New Orleans, Galveston, and Vera Cruz would rival 
Marseilles and ancient Venice. From the ports of Carthagena, Saba- 
nilla, Maracaibo, and Para, would be shipped the produce of the valleys 
of the Magdelina and the Amazon. Great as would be the trans¬ 
formations effected by these changes, they would be less than those 
which have transformed the continent of America into a congeries 
of civilized States. 

Such speculations have a sober basis of fact. They are not wholly 
useless if they attract the attention of those who have more time for 
patient investigation. Sufficient has been said to show that the 
objects to be attained merit consideration. 


CHAPTER V. 

Admiral Davis's Report—Table of the Tunnels of the different Isthmean Routes—Altitude of 
Ridge at Darien—Comparative Cost of Canals with and without Tunnels—Lift Locks and 
Thorough Cut—Tide in the Atlantic and Pacific—Moderate Lockage can not Obstruct the 
Navigation—Gisborne on Thorough Cut—His Error as to Velocity of Water—Objections to 
Strait—Tabular Statement of the Cost of Tunnels, English, French, German, and Ameri¬ 
can—Tunnel of Mont Cenis—Hoosac Tunnel—Profiles of Mont Cenis and Hoosac Tunnels 
—Dimensions of Ship Tunnel—Cost of Open Canal—General Michler’s Report—Guard 
Locks Necessary—Cost of System of Lift Locks—Conclusions Supported by Garella and 
Michel Chevalier. 

I N compliance with a resolution of the Senate, dated March 19, 
1866, we have an admirable report from Admiral Davis. In this 
report the relative merit of different lines is exhibited ; carefully 
prepared tables, showing the amount of freight which would pass the 
Isthmus; a list of ninety publications and fourteen maps, are 
appended. Ten of these maps, based on recent surveys, supply much 
valuable information. 



4 i 


Table of the Tunnels of the different Isthmean Routes. 

“ It is to the Isthmus of Darien,” says Admiral Davis, “ that we 
must look for a solution of the question of an interoceanic ship 
canal.” And he quotes from Airian, “ who has made a careful study 
of this subject,” the assertion that, “with regard to the Cordillera, 
in proportion as it advances, proceeding from the base of the Isth¬ 
mus, it descends a good deal, and is only, so to speak, a range of 
hills or isolated peaks, the bases of which are intersected by ravines, 
which point out to engineers the true route of the canal. The In¬ 
dians in the neighborhood of Caledonia Bay make use of these pas¬ 
sages. One of them is elevated fifty metres (164 feet), and is cov¬ 
ered with a luxuriant growth of mahogany, palm, ebony, and other 
trees.” “This description,” Admiral Davis remarks, “is not based 
on actual measurement, but from probabilities deduced from M. 
Garella’s survey of another part of the Isthmus, and from data, 
equally conjectural, drawn from the published statements of Messrs. 
Cullen and Gisborne.” 

A thorough exploration may justify this conjecture, but no data 
exists for fixing the absolute altitude at 164 feet. The value of the 
statements of Messrs. Cullen and Gisborne may be contested. 

It will be seen from the altitude given in the table below, that 
however correct in point of fact these opinions may be, they are not 
sustained by the figures taken from the maps accompanying the Ad¬ 
miral’s report: 

Table showing the length of Railroads and Canals , length of Tunnels , alti¬ 
tudes of Summits , estimated cost of some of the lines proposed for uniting 
the two Oceans , from actual surveys : 


ROUTES. 


Tehauntepec. 


Honduras. 

Nicaragua to Realijo. 

“ “ Brito... 

Panama . 


San Bias. 

Darien to San Miguel... 


11 Lara to Sucubti... 
Atrato to Humboldt Bay 


tl to Cupica. 


MIL S 
I9O 


234 

298 

I94 

53 l 

48 

3° 

42 


126 

149 ; 


234 

160 


48 


5 n 


3to 


7 

7 to 8 


FEET 

855 

843 

2956 

I?4 

600 

459 
280 
1500 
980 
1020 
610 ? 


970 


ESTIMATED 

COST. 


$16,900,000 

7,847,896 


20 , 000,000 

32,000,000 

27,000,000 

50,000,000 


65,000,000 


145,000,000 
134,45°, 1 54 
325,000,000 


RAILROAD 


Canal. 

Railroad. 

Canal. 


AUTHORITIES 

AND 

REMARKS. 


M. Moro. 

J. J. Williams 
Trautwine. 
Napoleon III. 

O. W. Childs. 

M. N. Garella. 

Col. G. W. Hughes. 

McDougal. 

Gisborne. 

Prevost & Strain. 
Bourdial. 

Kennish. 

Lt. Michler, U.S.A. 
Trautwine. 


/ 










































42 


Altitude of Ridge at Darien. 


From the above table it would appear that the altitude of the 
dividing ridge falls off toward the two extremities of the Isthmus, viz. 
near the Tehauntepec and the Atrato routes, but the greatest depres¬ 
sions have been found between Aspinwall and Panama, and on the 
line by the way of Lake Nicaragua and Lake Monagua. 

At the Isthmus of Darien altitudes of from one to two thousand 
feet are found. Cullen’s pass of 150 feet proved to be estimated at 
one-ninth of its true height. The least elevation of the divide is that 
given by M. Bourdial. This engineer did not cross the Isthmus, and 
his statement is so vague, the reader is left in doubt whether he 
actually reached the summit. Notwithstanding this uncertainty, there 
still exists a faint hope that “ it is to the Isthmus of Darien we must 
first look for a solution of the question of an interoceanic canal.” 

From another statement in this very valuable report, we feel re¬ 
luctantly compelled to dissent. By imposing unnecessary conditions 
in the statement of the problem, its solution may be indefinitely 
postponed. 

“The interoceanic canal,” it is affirmed, “in width, depth, in sup¬ 
ply of water, in good anchorage and secure harbors at both ends, 
and in absolute freedom from obstruction by lifting-locks, or other¬ 
wise, must possess, as nearly as possible, the character of a strait.” 

To insist that the canal must possess the character of a strait, 
may give rise to the necessity for a thorough-cut of such extreme 
depth, or a tunnel of so great length, as to render the work practically 
impossible. A line suitable for a thorough-cut may possibly be found, 
but so important a project should not be endangered by limiting its 
practicability to a communication of that nature. 

If, by the employment of “ lift-locks,” the cost of the canal can be 
materially reduced, the question to be considered is, to what extent 
such structures would obstruct navigation ? This question depends 
upon the amount of trade drawn to the Isthmus by the canal. 

The relative cost of the two methods for piercing the Isthmus can 
be best determined by a comparison of the cost of a canal in an open 
country with one by means of tunnels. These considerations, since 
they afford criteria for judging of the merits of different routes, may 
be considered more minutely. Let us assume the trade passing over 
the Isthmus—were the canal now completed—to increase one hun¬ 
dred per cent, in ten years; there would then be 2,066 tons in tran¬ 
situ daily, requiring seven ships of about 300 tons burthen each.* 


* Present average of the tonnage of ships of the commercial marine is 380 to 400 tons. The 
calculation supposes a commercial year of 300 days, and that the same number of ships arrive daily. 



43 


Lift Locks and Thorough-cut. 

The progcssive increase in the size of ships will raise this average to 
between 500 to 1,000 tons; reducing the number of ships arriving at 
the Isthmus daily, to five and three respectively. But, assuming the 
smaller average, giving the larger number of seven ships daily passing 
through the canal; an increase of four hundred per cent, in the trade 
would be equivalent to fourteen ships, or to seven ships leaving oppo¬ 
site extremities of the canal, and passing each other daily upon home¬ 
ward and outward voyages. 

Locks of four hundred feet long by ninety feet wide can be filled 
or emptied in twenty minutes; and this time can be reduced for 
smaller vessels by additional lock-gates, and for larger vessels by an 
increase in the size and number of filling valves. 

The entire trade likely to seek this route, increased four hundred 
per cent, of its present amount, could be passed through one lock in 
about four hours and forty minutes. As the vessels come from op¬ 
posite directions, one-half of the number would be waiting for lock¬ 
age at the same point, which would reduce the time required for this 
purpose to two hours and twenty minutes. ’ Eight locks, having an 
average lift of twelve and one-half feet, would delay the increased 
commerce eighteen hours and forty minutes, and would raise the 
level of the canal fifty feet; while to raise the level one hundred feet 
the delay would not exceed two days.* 

As a summit level may be a necessary part of any Isthmean canal, 
it is manifest that the resulting lockage can not seriously obstruct 
navigation. The design of an artificial strait may therefore be rea¬ 
sonably abandoned, if, by so doing, the extraordinary cost of tunnel¬ 
ing is excluded by the employment of a small number of lift-locks. 

On account of the rise of the tide on the Pacific coast guard locks, 
not much less costly than lift-locks, must be an essential part of any 
canal from ocean to ocean. 

The mean tide of the two oceans is about the same. 


* The Egyptian correspondent of the Boston Advertiser, March 15, 1870, observes: “The 
channel at Lake Timseh has not much more than 19 feet of water, as on the day of opening. 
We met two steamers on their way to Bonrioay, an English vessel going for cotton, and the French 
steamer Asie. This was evidently all the business of the day, and from the report of the com¬ 
pany, it is a fair average of the amount of work done. The company say they register one thou¬ 
sand five hundred tons a day.” 

The following statement exhibits more fully the tonnage and toll-receipts of the Suez 
Canal: * 


In December, 1869. 9 steamers and sailing ships. 40,000 francs. 

In January, 1370.16 “ “ 170,000 “ 

In February, 1870.28 “ “ 269,000 “ 

In March, 1870...,.52 “ “ 450,000 “ 











44 Tide in the Atlantic and Pacific. 

Table of tides, according to observation , from Col. Totted s Report. 



PACIFIC AT 

PANAMA. 

PACIFIC AT 

PANAMA. 

ATLANTIC AT 

ASPINWALL. 

Orpatpst risp nf tidp. 

MAY & JUNE 

FEET. 

17.72 

7-94 

12,08 

0.759 

NOV. & DEC. 

FEET. 

2I.3O 

9.7O 

I4.IO 

O.I4 

AUG. & SEPT. 

FEET. 

1.60 

0.62 

I.l6 

Least rise of tide. 

Average... 

Mean tide of Pacific above mean tide of Atlantic. 


Mr. Lloyd found a difference of 27.44 feet between high and low 
water at Panama. The Red Sea is 3 inches higher than the Medi¬ 
terranean. The Atlantic at Brest is 3J feet higher than the Medi¬ 
terranean at Marseilles. 

The small variation in the mean tide at Panama of the two oceans 
is probably due to the action of winds and the Gulf Stream. At 
Panama the highest flood tide rises about ten and one-half feet above 
the level of the mean tide of the Atlantic, and the extreme ebb falls 
about the same number of feet below it. The alternate currents 
through the new strait, caused by the rise and fall of the tide, would 
prove a serious inconvenience to navigation. 

The Pacific tide, piling up at the head of the new cut, and enter¬ 
ing the strait with considerable violence, would be propelled toward 
the Gulf in a manner analogous to the progression of the tidal wave 
in a river. Upon the ebb of the tide a reverse current would prevail. 
Navigation would not only be obstructed by these alternate currents, 
but the channel would be choked by drifting timber washed into the 
canal during the rainy season. Silt and sand would be deposited in 
bars at the outlet of the canal, or swept inward to form shoals where 
the current could no longer transport it. 

Mr. Gisborne, in his report, devotes some space to speculations 
on these results. “ There can be no doubt,” he remarks, “ that at 
high water there will be a current from the Pacific to the Atlantic, 
and that during the ebb tide there will be a current in the opposite 
direction. The extent of these currents, and the place of their greatest 
effect, depends on the comparative sectional area of different portions ; 
and if the cross-section is uniform throughout, will be some time after 
high tide in the Pacific and at the Atlantic end of the canal. The 
phase of the tide wave (or the appreciable effect of the tide) will take 
one and one-half hours to reach from one end to the other, and pre¬ 
suming the current to be uniform in the whole length ”-“ the 

question may be examined as a maximum, i. e ., what will be the 



















Gisborne on Thorough-cut . 45 

surface velocity of a canal thirty miles long, having a fall of eleven 
feet, or with a horizontal bottom having at one end twenty-eight feet, 
and at the other thirty-nine?” 

Employing Du Buat’s formula, with the following quantities: 


Mean depth.. 

Mean width. 77 . 


feet. 

u 

Mean border. 


«{ 

Area water section. 


u 

Hydraulic mean depth. 



Fall per mile*. 




he deduces a maximum surface velocity of three miles per hour. 
The assumed average fall per mile is strictly a variable function, and 
at its maximum would give a result greatly in excess of that deduced 
by Mr. Gisborne. 

There is no reason for this assumption of a fall of 0.33 of a foot 
per mile. It directly involves the question to be determined, since 
the velocity depends upon the inclination of the surface. The value 
deduced by the formula is not the maximum but the minimum velocity 
attained in the canal upon the assumed fall per mile. 

There is another error in Mr. Gisborne's statement. “ The tide,” 
he remarks, “would take one and one-half hours to reach from one 
end to the other, presuming the current to be uniform ; what,” he 
asks, “will be the surface velocity in a canal thirty miles long?” 

This statement contradicts his calculations, and involves also the 
question at issue. If the tide travels to the end of a canal thirty 
miles long in “ one and one-half hours,” it is evident that it must 
move at the rate of twenty miles per hour, a velocity which renders 
Mr. Gisborne’s strait impracticable for navigation. 

In fact, neither assumption is tenable. The problem is very 
complex, or, rather, with the data given, indeterminate. It is well 
known that the tide is propagated up the channel of a river in a 
succession of long waves, or swells, and that when the tidal wave is 
entering the mouth of the river, the waves which have reached the 
head are returning. The same movement is observed, on an exag¬ 
gerated scale, in the successive breakers which roll in to meet the one 
which is returning, after it has expended its force upon the beach. 

In the case of the Isthmean Canal, the rising tide, after having 
passed the mean, will have a downward slope into the canal. In 
rivers, notwithstanding the local rise of the water, the slope is never 
reversed, but is simply reduced in its angle of inclination. 

The problem involves the inclination of the surface, or the deter- 








46 


Tabular Statement of the Cost of Tunnels. 


mination of the limits of tidal action at successive stages of the tide. 
While the head of water increases, there is also a constant increase of 
the retardation of the flow of water into the canal. The outflowing 
water will run more rapidly than the inflowing, on account of the in¬ 
definite area over which it will spread and the diminution of the re¬ 
tarding influences. Both outflowing and inflowing current will seri¬ 
ously obstruct navigation. The banks of the canal will wash away, 
and bars will accumulate about the mouth. 

While these objections are valid against a thorough-cut canal 
without locks, they do not apply to a strait of a quarter of a mile in 
width. As the cost of a canal is the chief difficulty in the way of its 
construction, it is necessary to abandon the idea of a strait, and to 
adopt that of a thorough-cut with guard-locks, as the only known 
means of protecting the canal from the injurious effects of the tide. 

In order to form a correct opinion of the cost of canals with and 
without tunnels, attention is called to the expense incurred in the 
execution of this kind of work. 

Dimensions and Cost of some English Tunnels. 




HEIGHT. 

WIDTH. 

THICKNESS 

OF ARCHING. 

LENGTH IN 

YARDS. 

KIND OF 

MASONRY. 

TOTAL COST. 

COST PER 

YARD. 

YEAR WHEN 

BUILT. 

MATERIAL 

CUT THROUGH. 

1 

2 

Thames & Med. Canal. 
Islington, Regents Can. 

FT IN 

39.0 

21.6 

FT IN 

35.6 

20.6 

FT. IN. 

1.6 

3960 

900 

br’k 

ll 

DOLLARS. 

DOLLS. 

I45.OO 

1800 

l8l2 

[earth. 
Chalk, Fuller’s 
London clay. 

3 

4 

Tetney, Haven Canal.. 
Walford, N. W. R. R. 

162 

26.6 

17.0 

27.0 

1.2 

1.6 

2962^ 

1830 

<( 

u 

563.405 

I 9 2'.50 

1827 

1838 

Various. 

Chalk. 

5 

Box Tunnel, G.W. «... 

36.0 

36.0 

^•3 

3121 

(( 

i, 5 6 i , 5 °° 

500.00 

1838 

Freestone. 

6 

Littleboro’, M. & L. “... 

27.6 

27.0 

i-*°£ 

2860 

u 

4 , 255,000 

44O.OO 

1841 

Various. 

7 

Thames, Foot Passage.. 
Bletchingly, S. E. R. R. 

22.3 

37-6 

2.6 

400 

(t 

2,273,570 

486,185 

5,685.00 

1842 

London clay. 

8 

30.0 

30 0 

I . IOij 

1 3 2 4 

il 

351.00 

1842 

Shale, [sand 

9 

Saltwood, “ “ 

30.6 

30 0 

*•3 

954 

(( 

562,710 

59O.OO 

1843 

Lower green- 


Canal tunnels are rarely larger than 16J feet by 18 feet high. 
Supposing the same dimensions to obtain in French tunnels, the cost 
per lineal yard of the following named tunnels will furnish a basis for 
comparison: 


NAMES OF TUNNELS. 

LENGTH 

IN YARDS. 

COST PER 

YARD. 

Norieu, St. Ouinten Canal. 

13,128 

3,660 

3,852 

C 7 20 

$ I4.OO 

393-75 

45 - 5 ° 

325.00 

200.00 

Pouilly, Canal de Bourgoyne. 

Soussay, Canal de Bourgoyne. 

Maurages, Canal de Marne. 

St. Argnan, Canal d’Ardennes. 

288 







































PLAN AND PROFILE OF MONTCENfS TUNNEL 



i^crrl tjf tA*. Sag. 


































A 

r 

A 

t 

c 

t 

c 


\ 

V 

c 

a 

n 


e 


i 


3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 


C 

P 

c 


N 

P 

S. 

IV 

Si 


% 











Tunnel of Mont Cenis. 


47 

Among railroad tunnels, the following are selected from different 
parts of the continent: 


NAMES OF TUNNELS 

LENGTH. 

WIDTH. 

HEIGHT ABOVE 

RAILS. 

NUMBER OF 

SHAFTS. 

SECTION 

ABOVE RAILS. 

COST PER 

RUNNING YARD. 

TIME IN 

CONSTRUCTION. 

MATERIAL. 


YDS. 

FT. 

FT. 


SQ^ FT. 

DOLS. 

mo’s. 


Chezy. 

49 6 

24.27 

18.04 

O 

365.84 

411 

32 

Sand and clay. 

Arschwiller. 

2928 

24.27 

18.04 

6 

374 77 

I76 

95 

Sandstone. 

Alouette. 

1 35 ° 

25.58 

20.00 

21 

428.68 

3°5 

*3 

Clay. 

La Motte. 

2799 

24.92 

21.98 


5 i 9 * 7 i 

180 

3 ° 

Clay, marl, sandstone. 

Nerthe. 

C 072 

26.24 

24.60 



Al'J 

0 6 

Limestone. 

St. Martini. 

I 5°9 

25.25 

* 9-35 

IO 

4 I 5-34 

*r 1 ^ 

475 

3 ° 

60 

Porphyritic rock. 

Blaisy..*.. 

4483 

26.24 

24.60 

20 




Limestone. 








The cost of the Thames tunnel was greatly increased by a shield, 
designed by Brunei, to keep out the water. Omitting this tunnel 
from comparison the English works exceed the French, or Conti¬ 
nental, in cost of construction. 

The boldest work of the kind yet undertaken is the Mt. Cenis 
tunnel, to connect France and Italy by a continuous railway. In 
length it is seven miles, with a width of 26' 6" and a height of 20' 
8". Its completion is anticipated in April, 1871. 

The monthly advance by hand-labor was twenty-two and a-half 
yards. The progress is doubled by machinery, and during the past 
year has averaged 330 feet per month. Air, compressed by water 
power, is conveyed inside to give motion to chisels, which form cav¬ 
ities for blasting by gunpowder. The average progress per. day in 
1865, with the machinery, was about 9 feet. 

The estimated cost was $550 per running foot, but the rate was 
increased to $640; the entire cost of the tunnel being estimated at 
$9,200,000. The use of machinery at Mt. Cenis was found to ex¬ 
pedite the work, but at an increase of expense. 

The trial of machinery at the Hoosac tunnel, upon the Troy and 
Greenfield Railroad, has not been favorable to its employment. This 
tunnel will be four and three-quarter miles long. Originally projected 
with a width of 24 feet, and a height of 20 feet, it has been con¬ 
tracted to 14 feet wide, and 18 feet high. The estimated cost was 
$2,696,229. The rate first assumed was $137 per running foot. 
The rate per cubic yard varies from $5 to $22, and $30, for the ex¬ 
cavation of shafts. 


























48 Cost of Open Canal. 

The contract prices for the Hoosac tunnel, in 1869, were as fol¬ 
lows : 


Tunnel enlargement, per yard.$ 16.00 

Heading enlargement, east end, per yard. 9.00 

Heading enlargement, west end, per yard. 9-75 

Full size tunnel extension, east end, per yard. 11.00 

“ K west end, per yard. 12.00 

“ 11 central section, per yard. 14.00 

Central drain, with air and water pipes complete, per lineal foot. 13*00 

Sinking shaft (27x15!, per foot, depth. 395.00 

Pipes (10 inch), set in shaft. 6.00 

Arching (in brick at $9 per M), per M. 22 00 

Excavating and constructing 50 lineal feet of stone arch, and filling. 23,000.00 


Although more than two hundred railroad tunnels have been con¬ 
structed in the United States, and an unknown number of canal 
tunnels, facts in regard to them are difficult of access. Recent bids 
for tunnel work upon United States railroads have been offered at 
$5.40 per cubic yard for excavations. Canal tunnels, of the ordinary 
dimensions of 297 square feet area, would cost $113.20 per running 
foot. 

The uncertainty of the nature of tunnel excavation, the unex¬ 
pected difficulties to be overcome, baffle all anticipatory estimate. 
The variable rates in the preceding tables establish this fact. The 
average cost per running yard upon French canals is about $152, 
which sum probably includes arching. Rates of labor in the United 
States would increase the cost about four times this amount. 

Comparing the contract price of American tunnels, as given above, 
with the table of English tunnels, and bearing in mind that the cost 
of arching is included in the latter, we find in Nos. 3, 6, and 9, the 
cost of English tunnels is in excess ; number 3 being nearly double, 
and number 9 one-tenth more, while, in every other case, the cost at 
American rates is greater, varying from one-third to five and one-half 
times more. 

The schale, schist, and trachyte of the Isthmean ridge is of varia¬ 
ble consistence. Many places exhibit friable, seamy strata, disin¬ 
tegrating upon exposure to the atmosphere. A tunnel of the 
dimensions to admit the passage of ships, when carried through rock 
of this character, will require a lining of masonry to prevent falling 
material from obstructing the way. 

To pass ships with the topmast struck, the intrados of the arch 
should be 100 feet above the surface of the water. A semi-ellipse 
with semi-transverse, and conjugate diameters of 100 feet, added to 
the canal prism of thirty feet in depth, will give an area of tunnel 
equal to 10,104 superficial feet, or to 1,976,263 cubic yards per mile. 

Assuming that the cost of tunneling through the Isthmus can be 













PROFILE OF THE HOOSAC TUNNEL 

y^rtccaL iS'c<xZe- YSOftto on*. woA, 

Tforiz on 2 Us%- JVxe.te 2409 f* to *nc tnefc 



7 Ve+rt> 


$ 9 74 


T^pe*r (/o tlnAiH-J * % e,t trts <r7*4*ft per foot tn, U<r/j?Jr. 


4 $. oi 


y ii)‘ r&yK^-T’aoL Z£ x t'J \J > r.+Z /k^Yis* 


FuZC & Ytcri'/irl &octrn*ri^oTV ^Eoe^'t &7v& yot*~ ya,r(Z. _ -$ //.#o 


. / vcJli*uj ( iri. 7? ru:7c a/fc %&.oo /orjffJ pe/' *Zfi- - 


- - $ l%.o* 




* - $ /%'OQ 


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48 


lo 

Ti 

H( 

H( 

Fu 


Ce 

Sii 

Pi 

A 

E> 


Si 

tl 

f( 

$ 

d 

f< 

F 

r~ 

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a 

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49 


General Michler s Report 

executed at $10 per cubic yard, we shall have 19,762,630 dollars as 
the cost of one mile of tunnel. Estimating the excavation alone at 
present contract price, $5.40 per cubic yard for small tunnels, one 
mile of ship tunnel will cost $10,670,820. An open canal upon the 
line of the canal proposed by General Michler, uniting the Atrato 
with Humboldt Bay, will cost, according to the estimate of that officer, 
$1,792,202 per mile. 

This amount, taken from the careful and elaborate estimates con¬ 
tained in General Michler s report, may be assumed as a basis of 
comparison of the two proposed methods of intermarine communica¬ 
tion, viz.: by uniting the two oceans upon one level by a tunnel, or 
by means of a moderate number of “lift-locks.” Eight locks, four 
at each end of the canal, or sixteen locks, eight at each end of the 
canal, will raise the summit fifty feet above tide in the first case, and 
one hundred in the second, and will cost eight millions, and sixteen 
millions respectively. Since two guard locks will be requisite for 
either method of communication (i. e. by “strait,” or canal with lift- 
locks), their cost should be excluded from the above sums, which are 
thereby reduced to six millions, and fourteen millions of dollars. 
These sums are fixed as the probable limits of the cost of a system 
of lift-locks sufficient to overcome the divide of the Isthmus, and 
also to supply the reader with a standard, by which he may judge 
of the merits of different routes. 

The construction of a ship tunnel is, as has been said, “a hercu¬ 
lean task,” and it is not apparent that “the prejudice against it will 
be removed by the operations at Mt. Cenis.” A moderate number 
of lift-locks seems preferable to a tunnel of one mile in length, 
which, in turn, would be more economical than an excessive number 
of locks. A greater number than we have mentioned may be deemed 
excessive. 

A thorough-cut upon the level of the ocean would be a desirable 
method of canalization, but it seems like hampering the important 
design of an intermarine highway for the commerce of the world, 
with an impracticable condition, to insist that it should possess “ab¬ 
solute freedom from obstruction by lifting locks,” or that it should 
possess, in any degree, the “ character of a strait.” 

In this statement I find I have the support of M. Garella and 
Michel Chavalier. The opposition to the system of lift-locks appears, 
to have originated in the objection expressed in Mr. Wheaton’s let¬ 
ter to Mr. Buchanan, to the large number of these structures, recom¬ 
mended in M. Moro’s plan for the canalization of the Isthmus of 
Tehauntepec. 

4 


50 


Our Geographical Knowledge of the Isthmus. 


CHAPTER VI. 

Our Geographical Knowledge of the Isthmus—The Value of Early Narratives and Histories—> 
Projects for Uniting the two Oceans by Canals and Railroads—Criteria for Assisting the 
Judgment—Tunnels, Harbors, Locks, Dimensions of Canal—Tehuantepec—The Garay 
Grant—Moro’s Survey—Barnard’s Survey—Honduras—A Better Route Practicable— 
Nicaragua—Louis Napoleon’s Scheme—Col. Child’s Report—Variations of Route—Ad¬ 
vantages of this Line—Chiriqui—St. Clair Morton—No Information Extant—Costa Rica— 
Railroad Practicable—Great Altitude of Ridge—Panama—Information Abundant—Gar 
ella’s Route—Hughes’s Route—Advantages—Cost of Canal on this Route—Mexican De- 
sagues—Panama and Aspinwall—Harbors Easily Improved—Panama Railroad Company— 
San Bias and Bayano River—F. W. Kelly—McDougal’s Survey—Fine Harbors—Tunnel 
Seven Miles Long—Darien—Between Caledonia Bay and the Gulf of San Miguel—Baron 
Humboldt—Vasco Nunez—Paterson’s Colony—Causes of Its Failure — Dr. Cullen and 
Savana River—Reports the Ridge 150 Feet—English Company—Concessions of the Grana¬ 
dian Government—Mr. Gisborne Sent to Darien—His Speculations—Delayed at Cartha- 
gena—Stopped by the ' Indians—Supposed Success—Misunderstanding with Dr. Cullen— 
Returns to England—Provisional Directory Organized—Controversy Between Sir Charles 
Fox and the London Times—Combined Expedition of Four Governments—Lieut. Strain’s 
Misfortunes—Fails to Find a Pass—Dr. Cullen and Mr. Gisborne’s Failure—Captain Pre- 
vost Fails to Cross—Dr. Cullen Changes His Opinion—French Expedition under Bourdiol— 
Fails to Cross—Granadian Expedition Fails—Condensed Statement of the Results of all the 
Expeditions—Captains Prevost and Parsons see Evidences o( a Pass—Darien Not Yet Ex¬ 
plored—San Miguel to the Gulf of Uraba—The Atrato Route—Successful Survey—Rep¬ 
resentations of Unprofessional Persons—Gorgoza and De La Charme—Their Route—- 
Trautwine—Mr. Porter and Kennish’s Routes—Lieut. Michler’s Route—Extracts from 
Michler’s Report—Tunnel Two and One-Half Miles—Cost too Small—Barometric— 
.Levels—Humboldt’s Opinion. 

H AVING hastily sketched the relation of the proposed canal to 
the commerce of the world, its importance is sufficiently ap¬ 
parent to justify a careful consideration of the condition of our 
knowledge of the geography of the Isthmus. The facts and reason¬ 
ing of previous chapters will furnish a standard, in the absence of a 
better, for trying the merits of the routes about to be described, and 
will indicate the nature of the deficiency to be supplied by future ex¬ 
plorations. 

The American Isthmus extends in length about twelve hundred 
miles, from the Coazacoalcos River, in Mexico, to the valley of the 
Atrato, in Columbia. It includes the Mexican States of Tehuantepec, 
the Republics of Yucatan, Guatemala, Balize, Honduras, San Salvador, 


The Value of Early Narratives and Histories . 51 

Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Kingdom, and the State of Pan¬ 
ama, one of the States of Columbia. Embracing a varied and salu¬ 
brious climate ; a rich soil, clothed with the luxuriance of tropical 
vegetation ; ruins of an ancient people, consisting of vast and silent 
cities, whose impressive but grotesque architecture, embodying a civ¬ 
ilization unique and insular, is overgrown with forest of flor de robles, 
mahogany, and palm ; divided throughout its entire length by a vol¬ 
canic dyke, rising to altitudes of five to six thousand feet, and sinking 
into depressions two hundred and eighty feet above the level of the 
sea; concealing in its strata the matrices of gold and precious stones; 
expanding in Yucatan to a width of six hundred and fifty miles, and 
contracting at San Bias and Darien to thirty or forty miles—this 
connecting link, the result of a submarine endogenous movement 
subsequent to the elevation of the continents which it unites, opposes 
a solitary but not insurmountable barrier to the commercial union 
of the two oceans. 

The narratives of Dampier, Wafer, the adventures of the Spanish 
Buccaneers who infested the South Sea, and the descriptions of Las 
Casas, Fonseca, Don Andres de Ariza, however interesting histor¬ 
ically, add but little to the physico-geographical knowledge of the 
country. These histories contain accounts of earthquakes as terrific 
as that which has recently visited the coast; of sieges notable for 
bold assault and gallant defense; of gold mines opened and aban¬ 
doned ; of strange fauna, birds of splendid plumage, and a tropical 
flora of gorgeous colors; but the reader will seek in vain for infor¬ 
mation of practical value in determining the question of a practicable 
route for an interoceanic ship canal. 

Recent explorers have supplied much accurate information of 
special routes. The following table exhibits the different projects for 
uniting the Atlantic and Pacific: 

1. Tehuantepec, by the Coazacoalcos and Chicapa. 

2. Honduras. 

3. Nicaragua, from San Juan de Nicaragua and Lake Niaragiui, 
five variations, viz.: 

R. San Carlos, G. de Nicoya, R- Sapoa, B. Salinas, 

R. Nino, Tempisque, G. de Nicoya, San J uan del Sud, 

and Brito. 

From San Juan de Nicaragua, by way of Fake Nicaragua and 
Managua, three variations, viz.: 

R. Tamarinda. B. Realejo. B. Fonseca. 


52 


Projects for Uniting the two Oceans. 


4. Panama, four distinct routes, viz.: 

Gorgona, Panama. 

Trinidad, Caymito. 

Navy Bay, R. Chagres, R. Bonito, R. Bernardo. 

San Bias, R. Chepo. 

5. Darien, including the old province of Choco; the different 
routes and the variations are five in number, viz.: 

B. Caledonia, G. San Miguel. 

Rs. Arguia, Paya, Tuyra, G. San Miguel. 

B. Napipi, Cupica. 

R. Truando, Kelley’s Island. 

R. Tuyra, G. Uraba or R. Atrato. 

The above lists include canal projects; the following list enumer¬ 
ates the projected railroads: 

I. Coazacoalcos, Tehuantepec 

II. B. Honduras to G. of Fonseca. 

III. R. San Juan, Nicaragua, Managua. 

IV. Port Limon to Caldera, Costa Rica. 

V. Chiriqui inlet to Golfo Dulce. 

VI. Aspinwall, Panama, (railroad finished.) 

VII. Gorgon B„ Realijo. I Nicaragua . 

VIII. Gorgon B„ San Juan del Sur. / 6 

Before describing the routes above enumerated, some criteria for 
assisting the judgment may be brought together, as follows: 

1. The Isthmean Canal may be a thorough-cut, with guard-locks. 

2. It should be without a tunnel. 

3. It may have a summit-level and moderate lockage, to avoid 
excessive tunneling and cutting. 

4. Great advantages in other respects—viz.: shortness of line and 
fine harbors—may compensate for a short tunnel. 

5. The route should possess good harbors, or such as can be 
easily improved. 

6. Dimension of the canal and size of the locks. The canal 
should be sufficiently wide to permit ships to pass easily, or it should 
have convenient turn-outs. 

The width of the intermarine canal proposed by Mr. Kennish, to 
unite the Atrato and the Pacific, is estimated to have 200 feet. Gen¬ 
eral Michler assumes a width of 100 feet, and states that vessels can 
pass alternately from one end to the other, employing tug-boats and 
telegraphic signals to avoid confusion. 


Criteria to aid the Judgment—Tehuantepec 


53 


The canal now in process of construction, under the direction of 
General Wilson, around the Des Moines rapids on the Mississippi, 
has a width of 250 feet in embankment. 

The Engineer in charge of the canal around the falls of the Ohio 
at Louisville, proposes a width of 120 feet, which is the same as that 
of the Caledonia Canal. 

The Suez Canal has a minimum width at water surface of 190 feet. 
This last dimension, with a sufficient number of turn-outs, would be 
suitable for the canal across the American Isthmus. 

The locks of the Des Moines Canal are 380 feet between gates, by 
80 feet wide. General Weitzel proposes, for the Louisville Canal, 
locks 400 feet between gates, and 100 feet wide. The Isthmean locks 
may be 400 feet between gates, and 90 feet wide. 

Locks of these dimensions, if all unnecessary dressing of the stone 
is dispensed with, may probably be erected for one million of dollars. 

It is unnecessary to mention other ship canals and locks, built for 
the accommodation of ships of less tonnage than those which would 
make the intermarine transit 

The following description, commencing at Tehuantepec, will treat 
of each route in succession: 


TEHUANTEPEC. 

In March, 1842, Santa Anna, “for the purpose of aggrandizing 
the nation and rendering the people happy,” granted certain privi¬ 
leges to Don Jose de Garay, to enable him to open a line of commu¬ 
nication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, through the Isthmus 
of Tehuantepec. The route was to be neutral to all nations at peace 
with the Mexican Republic. The “negotiation” was permitted to hold 
for public use all unoccupied land, not more than one-fourth of a league 
on either side of the line, which was conceded to them in fee simple. 
The right of collecting dues was conceded for fifty years, and the ex¬ 
clusive privilege of freight, by steam vessel or railroad, for sixty years. 

The survey was intrusted to Sr. Moro, an Italian engineer of dis¬ 
tinction. The distance from sea to sea was ascertained to be 135 miles 
in a straight line. Wide plains and table land adjacent each ocean 
were found to be broken by the Andes, rising to the height of 650 
feet above the level of the sea. 

Thirty miles of the Coazacoalcos River, after passing the bar, is 
navigable for ships of the largest class, and fifteen miles for vessels 
of light draught, leaving 115 miles of railroad to be made. 

Sr. Moro, taking the dimensions and cost of the Caledonia Canal 


54 


A Better Route Practicable in Honduras. 


as a standard, estimates the cost of a similar ship canal across the 
Isthmus* at $17,000,000. He includes in his estimate the cost of 
one hundred and sixty-one (161) locks, .which may be reduced to 
one hundred and twenty. These results were not deemed satis¬ 
factory. 

The privileges granted to Mr. Garay were secured by P. A. 
Hargous and Major (now Brevet Major-General) Barnard, Corps of 
Engineers. W. H. Sidell and others were employed to survey the 
route of a railroad. Of this survey we have the very interesting 
report of J. J. Williams, containing information of the statistics, 
geology, and topography of the country. The summit is 855 feet 
above tide; the entire length of the line is 190 miles. A summit- 
level and tunnel would be necessary to carry a canal across the 
ridge. Corn’d Perry and Lieut. Temple, U. S. N., found about twelve 
feet water on the Coazacoalcos bar. The bar is supposed to be com¬ 
posed of hard clay, admitting of a permanent improvement. Capt. 
Basil Hall, R. N., and Com. Shubrick, U. S. N., speak of the Pacific 
terminus at Ventosa Bay as exceeding boisterous and unfavorable for 
anchorage. 

The merits of this route have been minutely described by Col. 
J. J. Abert, Chief Corps Topographical Engineers, and Col. G. W. 
Hughes, of the same corps ; and by common consent the route is 
regarded as possessing “ little merit as a practicable line for the con¬ 
struction of a ship canal.” 


HONDURAS. 

A barometric survey was made of this route. With excellent 
harbors, it is obstructed by an elevated dividing ridge. The topo¬ 
graphical features of the country indicate the probable existence of 
a more favorable pass. A better route may be found by starting 
from the Gulf of Duke, and proceeding toward the town of Guate¬ 
mala ; or by starting from the same point, a more southerly direction 
appears to possess advantages. Inference from maps of this region 
must be received with caution. The route is condemned by Admiral 
Davis. 

NICARAGUA. 

With the exception of the Panama route, no Isthmean project 
has received so careful an examination as the lines passing through 


• N The Caledonia Canal is 25 miles long, and 122 feet wide at water surface. Dimensions 
of locks, 178^ by 39 feet. Lockage, 95 feet. 



Louis Napoleons Scheme. 


55 


Lake Nicaragua. This part of the Isthmus widens into continental 
proportions of great fertility. The productive and industrial develop¬ 
ment of this country, by means of railroad or canal, would supply a 
material addition to the commerce of the world. With the growth 
of Central America, our gulf ports—Galveston, New Orleans, Mobile, 
Appalachicola, Pensacola, Tampa Bay, and Key West—would increase 
in military and commercial importance. 

This line possesses additional interest for the political reasons 
adduced by the Emperor Napoleon III, in a memoir prepared by 
him when a prisoner at Ham. Arranged with method and prepared 
with care, this pamphlet bears the impress of a sagacious judgment. 
“ In order,” says the writer, “ that the canal should become the prin¬ 
cipal element of the advancement of Central America, it must be cut, 
not through the narrowest part of the tongue of land, but through 
the country which is most populous, the most healthy, and the most 
fertile, and which is crossed by the greatest number of rivers, in order 
that its activity may be communicated to the remotest part of the 
interior. England will see with pleasure Central America become a 
flourishing and powerful State, which will establish a balance of power 
by creating in Spanish America a new center of active enterprise, 
powerful enough to give rise to a feeling of nationality, and to prevent, 
by backing up Mexico, any further encroachment from the North.” 

The line selected by Louis Napoleon (although he errs in his 
statement of distance), has not been improved by the changes in lo¬ 
cation proposed by subsequent engineers. All these routes com¬ 
mence at San Juan de Nicaragua, and follow the San Juan river to 
the Lake Nicaragua. From this lake three other routes pass through 
Lake Managua to Realijo, and to the Gulf of Fonseca. Lake Mana¬ 
gua is about twenty feet above the level of Lake Nicaragua. The 
dry season suspends the flow of water between the lakes, and the 
question arises whether, even by the aid of a dam, sufficient water 
can be stored in the smaller lake to feed the summit level on each 
side of it during the dry season. 

Col. Childs’s route terminates at Brito; a fifth at San Juan del Sud, 
and three other variations of route near the same point of the Pacific 
coast. Col. Childs’s report, which is very complete, was submitted to 
a Board of English Engineers, and to Colonels Abert and Turnbull, 
of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, U. S. A. Although the 
survey was thoroughly and scientifically executed, the route was con¬ 
demned by these officers, because of the insufficiency of the harbors 
of Brito, and the small dimensions of the canal proposed by Colonel 
Childs. 


56 


Variations of Route. 


The length of the canal was divided into sections, for the conven¬ 
ience of description and estimation of the cost: 


MILES. FEET. 


Western division, from Brito to the Lake... 18 588 

From Lake Nicaragua to head of San Juan. 56 500 

Slack water of seven dams on the San Juan. 90 800 

Canal to San Juan del Norte. 28 505 

Total distance.194 393 


The maximum width of the canal was designed to be 118 feet, 
and the depth 17 feet. The descent from the lake to Brito was ac¬ 
complished by fourteen locks. 

The following table exhibits the distances from sea to sea of the 
proposed lines originating at San Juan del Norte : 



The ports on the Bay of Fonseca, and at Realijo, are good, but 
the other ports designated as terminal points upon the Pacific are not 
so favorable for Shipping. San Juan del Norte, the initial point upon 
the Atlantic of all these routes, will not admit ships of large draught, 
and the harbor is rapidly deteriorating. All harbors of Central and 
South America receiving rivers, and opening to the northward, are 
decreasing in depth. The incessant wave-beat, caused by the trade- 
winds and northers, acts like a ponderous hammer, wielded by an ir¬ 
resistible force, whose unceasing efforts, for six months of the year, 
are exerted to force the sand into the entrance of the harbors, and 
to arrest the sediment brought down by the rivers. The result is a 
tortuous and variable channel, and a shifting and shoaling bar. 

The deterioration of the harbor of San Juan de Nicaragua, or 
Greytown, has been minutely discussed by a board of scientific of¬ 
ficers of the United States Corps of Engineers, and of the Coast 
Survey Department. Their conclusions were unfavorable to the im¬ 
provement of the harbor. 






























Advantages of this Line. 


57 


Where the Cyane lay during the bombardment of Greytown a 
luxuriant grass marsh is now growing. It has not been many years 
since this harbor afforded refuge for shipping of ordinary draught, 
but it is not unusual, at the present time, to find the harbor so com¬ 
pletely closed during a storm that a pedestrian may walk dry-footed 
across the former entrance. Upon such occasion the harbor of Grey¬ 
town is converted into a lagoon until after the storm, when the ac¬ 
cumulating water of the San Juan erodes for itself a new outlet to 
the ocean. 

It is apparent some other initial point must be found before this 
route can be seriously considered as a suitable terminus for inter- 
oceanic communication. Monkey Point is said to supply a good 
anchorage, and has been suggested for this purpose. Monkey Point 
affords anchorage for ships drawing rather more than three fathoms. 
By joining the island with a breakwater of pierreperdu, of the length 
of about twelve hundred feet, a good harbor, affording five fathoms 
water, can be obtained. 

The writer is not aware that any surveys have ever been made for 
connecting this point with the San Juan river, or with the lakes. 
It is therefore unnecessary to mention other reports upon the same 
route, or to do more than to refer to the plans, profiles, and details 
of the “ Interoceanic Canal of Nicaragua,” submitted at the Paris 
exhibition by L. J. Thome de Gamond. The report of M. de Gam- 
ond is not at hand. 

A healthy and productive country; two lakes affording an inex¬ 
haustible supply for a summit level; a divide easily overcome at an 
altitude represented as 174 feet, and the convenient channel of the 
San Juan, through which the waters of Lakes Managua and Nicar¬ 
agua find their way from an amphitheater of hills to the Atlantic 
ocean, are advantages which engineers and capitalists are loath to 
abandon, and which the reader relinquishes with regret. We may 
expect, therefore, to find the question continually revived. But its 
advantages have been overestimated. 

The San Juan river has cut an outlet for the canal through the 
ridge, separating Lake Nicaragua from the Atlantic; but to pierce 
the divide on the opposite side, which separates the lake from the 
Pacific, a tunnel of about six miles in length will be requisite. The 
altitude of the divide is six hundred feet above the level of the lake. 
The singular omission in Colonel Childs’s report may have led Ad¬ 
miral Davis to overlook so important an objection, or perhaps he may 
have thought it unnecessary to multiply objections to a route which 
appeared impracticable upon other grounds. 


58 


Chiriqui — Costa R ica — Panama . 


CHIRIQUI. 

The so-called Isthmus of Chiriqui, lying between Panama and 
Nicaragua, was explored by the late Lieut. St. Clair Morton, who was 
killed in the siege of Petersburg. Lieut. Morton crossed the Isthmus 
twice, arid pronounced the route practicable for a railroad. As no 
notes of this survey are extant, curiosity in regard to this route must 
remain unsatisfied. Lieut. Jeffers, U. S. N., speaks favorably of the 
harbors. Mr. Evans, the geologist, discovered an inferior kind of coal. 
Another reconnoissance may develop some important information. 

COSTA RICA. 

A railroad has been projected from Port Limon, near the tenth 
parallel of latitude on the Atlantic, to Caldera, in the Gulf of Nicoya. 
Rising to an altitude of 5,100 feet the route passes through a salu¬ 
brious climate, and over a productive soil. A macademized road, 134 
miles long, with five stone bridges, has been completed along this 
line. As a route for a ship canal the altitude of the summit appears 
to exclude it from further consideration. 

PANAMA. 

As the passenger route and highway of the trade between the At¬ 
lantic and Pacific States of America, the mention of this line arrests 
attention. Information in regard to it is full and accurate. Here, 
alone, in all Central America, a railroad unites the two oceans. Con¬ 
fining his remarks to the project of M. Garella, Admiral Davis pro¬ 
nounces his condemnation of the route. 

M. Garella’s route, starting from the Bay of Limon, on the 
Atlantic, following the valley of the Chagres, ascending with 17 
locks to the summit, which it passes with a tunnel 17,500 feet in 
length, at an altitude of 135 feet above high water in the Pacific, and 
descending with 18 locks, terminates at the Bay of Vaca del Monte, 
on the Atlantic. The altitude of the ridge to be pierced is 459 feet. 
The commission of the “Fonts et chausses" appointed to report upon 
Garella’s project, object to the expense of tunneling, and to the ab¬ 
sence of evidence of the sufficiency of the mountain streams to feed 
the summit level. 

But a tunnel is not a necessary plan of piercing the Isthmus at 
this point, nor is a summit level 135 feet above high water an una¬ 
voidable necessity. The Panama railroad passes the divide without 
a tunnel, at an altitude of 280 feet above tide. The fact that a route 
possessing such advantages should be found so near the line of M. 


Garella s Route. 


59 

Garella, encourages the belief that a more critical examination of other 
prescribed routes may be rewarded with the same good fortune. 

The merits above mentioned justify a more attentive' considera¬ 
tion. The advantages of the route may be enumerated as follows : 

1. A divide 280 feet above tide. 

2. Distance between oceans 48 miles. 

3. The Chagres river, emptying into the Atlantic, and the Rio 
Grande, flowing into the Pacific, together with the smaller rivers, 
Maraboso, Obispo, Dominica, Mandingo, which can be made tribu¬ 
tary to the summit level of the canal. The rainfall in this region 
varies from 90 to 100 inches, being three times the amount which or¬ 
dinarily falls in the United States. 

4. The harbors at the termini, Panama and Aspinwall, have ac¬ 
commodated the trade of California and the Atlantic States, and are 
far superior to those of Port Said and Suez. 

5. Tunnel unnecessary. 

Possessing such advantages, the objections which have led to the 
ignoring of this route should be noticed. 

The objection of the Commission of French Engineers to M. Gar- 
ella’s project has been mentioned. “The river Chagres,” it was 
observed, “ was gauged at Cruces and Gorgona, but the river is to be 
tapped above these points.” 

The summit upon Garella’s line is 459 feet above tide, while upon 
the line of the Panama railroad it is but 280 feet. Garella proposes 
to pierce the ridge, at 135 feet above tide, with a tunnel three and 
four-tenths miles in length. No tunnel is required upon the other 
line. 

Estimating the tunnel of M. Garella at the present contract price 
in the United States, this part of the work alone will cost $57,623,380. 


Add 47 miles of open canal. 84> 2 3 2 >49 T * 

Total cost of canal.$141,855,871. 


A canal by the aid of locks can be constructed between the two 
seas, upon the line proposed by Col. Hughes, at a much less cost. 

Assuming the same dimensions of canal—100 feet wide by 30 feet 
(j ee p—and the same prices as above, taken from General Michler s 
report upon the survey of the canal for joining the Atrato and the 
Pacific, and we obtain the probable cost of constructing a canal upon 
this line, as follows: 


For 50 miles of open canal.$ 89,610,150 

12 locks raise the summit level 75 feet. 12,000,000 

Breakwater, ship basin, and contingencies. 8,000,000 

Total cost of canal.$109,610,150 










6o 


Cost of Canal on this Route. 


This diminution of cost of $32,245,721, due to the absence of a 
tunnel, upon this route, allows of a margin more than can be required 
for increasing the number of the locks, or for building, graving docks, 
and other auxiliary conveniences in the harbors. 

The execution of this work would require a cut of less dimensions 
than the famous Mexican Desague of Huehuetoca, referred to by 
Humboldt, and described by Admiral Fitzroy as “ 200 feet deep and 
300 feet wide for nearly a thousand yards, and above 100 feet deep 
through an extent of nearly a thousand yards, (making altogether two 
miles of distance in which the vast excavation would be capable of 
concealing the mast-head of a first-rate man-of-war, executed in the 
last three centuries in Central America,) should induce us to listen 
respectfully to the plans of modern engineers, however startling they 
may appear at first.” 

Another objection remains to be considered: “ Navy Bay is an 
insecure anchorage, and the harbor upon the Pacific is altogether in¬ 
sufficient for vessels of even moderate draught.” “ M. Garella is 
obliged to include in his estimate the sum of a million and a quarter 
dollars for the improvement of this harbor.” 

On account of the rise of the tide, which varies as much as 22 
feet, vessels are compelled to anchor two and one-half miles from 
Panama, and the passengers and freight are transported in light- 
draught steamers. These difficulties may be converted, by the use 
of docks, as in English harbors, into an advantage. The withdrawal 
of 20 to 23 feet of water at extreme tides affords extraordinary facil¬ 
ities for constructing ship basins and docks upon the natural pave¬ 
ment of rock which covers the bottom of the bay in front of the 
City of Panama. 

On the other side, Limon Bay possesses sufficient depth of water, 
but is open to “northers.” The entrance of these dangerous winds 
may be prevented by a stone breakwater, or one composed of screw 
piles, driven sufficiently near to support iron or flanged plates, sliding 
vertically into position, one above another, until the requisite height 
is attained, and braced strongly at the back. 

Notwithstanding northers, steamships arrive and depart regularly. 
The Royal Mail Steamship Company are building wharves of stone 
and iron, and the railroad company has projected a breakwater for 
the protection of shipping. 

Colonel G. W. Hughes, in a letter to the Hon. J. M. Clayton, at 
that time Secretary of State, makes the following observations in 
regard to this route: “The line I have traced for a railroad is, I 
think, more favorable for a ship canal than that suggested by M. 


San Bias and Bay a no River. 


61 


Garella. If we adopt the same depth of cutting he suggests for an 
open cut, it will leave the bottom of the canal 44 feet above the level 
of the Pacific at high tide. This would be about ten feet lower than 
the bed of the river at Gorgona. An open cut two hundred feet 
deep would obviate all difficulty in crossing the Chagres at Gorgona, 
while the Rio Grande, the Obispo, and the Mandingo might be con¬ 
verted into an immense reservoir for supplying the summit-level with 
water, and the Rio Chagres above Cruces, and the Pedro, Miguel, 
Camero, etc., would furnish the lower level. A spacious tide basin 
might be constructed at the mouth of the Rio Grande, a few miles 
west of Panama.” 

For this project, so favorably recommended, it is necessary to 
obtain the consent of the Panama Railroad Company to the use of 
land belonging to their reservation. 

SAN BLAS AND BAYANO RIVER. 

This route is one of several surveyed under the generous patron¬ 
age of F. W. Kelly and others. The map of Mr. McDougal, the 
surveyor and engineer, and the report of Admiral Davis, furnish some 
interesting facts. The narrowest part of the Isthmus is found here, 
being thirty miles from ocean to ocean, and here the tide of the 
Pacific is said to approach within fifteen miles of the Atlantic coast. 

Mr. McDougal proposes to pierce the ridge, which has an altitude 
of 1500 feet, at a height of 93 J feet above mean tide, by a tunnel 
seven miles long. The harbor of San Bias is deep and spacious. 
The channel leading into the Bay of Panama has not less than 
eighteen feet of water at mean low tide, while the rise of the water 
is sixteen feet. This result, Admiral Davis observes, does not agree 
with the admiralty charts. 

The map indicates the probable existence df a better route to the 
north-west, and the surveyors were satisfied they saw evidences of a 
depression in that direction. 

Admiral Davis quotes the well-merited compliment of Sir R. 
Murchison, to the zeal and energy with which Mr. Kelly has pursued 
«this great and philanthropic object,” in which “all civilized nations 
are deeply interested.” 

DARIEN. 

Between Caledonia Bay and the Gulf of San Miguel every effort 
to make a thorough exploration has resulted in failure. Disappointed 
expectations, arduous but fruitless labors, conflicting reports, failure, 
starvation, and death have stamped with ill omen every attempt to 


62 


Patersoiis Colony. 


cross this part of the Isthmus. Baron Humboldt has directed public 
attention to Darien, and Admiral Davis expresses his deliberate con¬ 
viction that to this part of the Isthmus we must look for a solution 
of the question of interoceanic ship communication. 

The history of so many attempts, proving so unexpectedly disas¬ 
trous, supplies much curious and valuable information, from the 
Paterson colonization scheme to the unfortunate expedition of Lieut. 
Strain, one word will characterize every attempt. The first settle¬ 
ment of Vasco Nunez, in 1510, after eight years of calamitous trial, 
was abandoned. 

Paterson’s colony was remarkable in the causes which led to its 
inception ; in the ability and statesman-like views of him who con¬ 
ceived a design so vast and benevolent; in the governments enlisted 
in its favor; in the sufferings of the colonists, and in its final aban¬ 
donment. 

William Paterson, a Scottish clergyman, of fertile resources, and 
great political sagacity, the original designer of the Bank of England, 
conceived the magnificent design of establishing a colony upon the 
shores of Darien, based on principles of religious toleration and free 
trade, which, occupying the highway of commerce, “grasping the 
riches of both the Indies, and wresting the keys of commerce from 
Spain,” should build up, on the shores of two oceans, cities surpassing 
his own Edinburgh, and rivaling ancient Alexandria. With expe¬ 
rience drawn from long study and patient observation, he organized 
his scheme upon liberal commercial principles, and an enlightened 
political policy. Scotland, Hamburg, and Holland, contributed the 
sum of $4,500,000. This large amount surprised London merchants, 
and spread panic in the board of the East India Company. The un¬ 
friendly feeling of this great corporation proved, in the end, fatal to 
the scheme. Aided by Spanish intrigue, and Dutch rivalry, and 
bringing their vast machinery to bear against the colonists, by ar¬ 
gument and misrepresentation, they induced William III. to issue 
an edict, forbidding all English colonies in the West Indies from 
sending provisions, arms, or ammunition to the Scottish colony of 
Darien. 

Of 1,200 colonists, three hundred of whom represented the best 
blood of Scotland, thirty only returned to tell the story of their suf¬ 
ferings. Dissension, disease, and starvation, had accomplished the 
usual results. Thus, this design for the union of two great oceans 
failed ; this effort to form a nucleus of a new system of beneficent 
wealth, and commerce, came to an untimely end. 

The Caledonia Bay was no longer frequented by the ships of Eng- 


English Company. 


63 


land, Holland and Scotland. The gold mines of Cana, worked by 
one thousand men, under the Spanish domination, were destined to 
remain to the present day, unmolested. The north-western slopes, 
and the head waters of the Chuquanaqua, reverted to the undis¬ 
puted possession of the Indians, while, between the lower part of 
this river and along the Savana, and the Bay of San Miguel, a mon¬ 
grel population of 1,200 souls cultivate bananas, and impose upon 
strangers. 

Dr. Cullen justly claims to have recalled public attention to the 
merits of this route. The fine harbors of San Miguel on the Pacific, 
and of Caledonia Bay and Port Escocds on the Atlantic, taken in 
connection with the narrowness of the Isthmus, would attract a 
casual observer. The favorable opinion of Humboldt has led many 
to look hopefully to this region. The advantageous situation of the 
Savana River was pointed out by Dr. Cullen, who claims to have 
“ crossed, and recrossed, between Caledonia Bay, and Port Escoces 
alone, during the rainy season, cutting and marking his way with a 
machete. From the head of the Savana,” he continues, “a ravine, 
three leagues in length, extends to Caledonia Bay, and there a canal 
might be cut with less difficulty than elsewhere, if it were not for the 
opposition of the natives. From the sea shore (at Caledonia) a plain 
extends to the base of a ridge, which runs parallel to the coast, and 
whose summit is 350 feet. This ridge is not quite continuous and 
unbroken, but is divided by transverse valleys, through which the 
Aglasenique and Aglatomente, and other rivers have their course, 
and whose highest elevations do not exceed 150 feet.” 

Impressed by these favorable representations, and believing Dr. 
Cullen’s statement of the existence of large gold deposits near Es- 
peritu Santu, and in the diggings of Veraguas, the distinguished 
capitalists, Sir Charles Fox, John Henderson, and Thomas Brassy, 
uniting with Dr. Cullen, obtained, by a decree of the Granadian Con¬ 
gress, dated Bogota, June 1st, 1852, the concession of the exclusive 
privilege of cutting a ship canal across the Isthmus of Darien, be¬ 
tween the Gulf of San Miguel on the Pacific, and the Bay of Cale¬ 
donia on the Atlantic, with the liberty of selecting any other point 
on the Atlantic coast between Puerto de Musquitoes, and the west 
mouth of the Atrato, for the entrance of the canal ; and were granted, 
besides the lands necessary for the canal and its works, 2,000,000 
acres of land, to be selected in any part of the Republic. All the 
ports of Darien were declared free and neutral. 

Notwithstanding these favorable conditions, it was deemed prudent, 
by the distinguished capitalists above mentioned, to send out a com- 


6 4 


Mr. Gisborne sent to Darien. 


petent engineer to verify the statements of Dr. Cullen. Mr. Lionel 
Gisborne was selected for the purpose, and was accompanied by Dr. 
Cullen, to point out the way. 

Before arriving in South America Mr. Gisborne, assuming the 
data supplied by Dr. Cullen to be correct, enters into some interest¬ 
ing speculations. “ Let us suppose,” he observes, “ the summit level 
to be 150 feet above the level of the sea. The Atlantic rise of tide 
is only 3 feet (1' 5") ; that of the Pacific is 25 feet (22 to 23), there¬ 
fore, the difference in the level, at high and low tide is 11 feet (this, 
although suppositious, will, I anticipate, not be far from the truth). 
In such a case I would propose to cut a canal through from ocean to 
ocean without any locks,” etc. 

Proceeding on the supposition of certain “circumstances likely to 
coexist in a country whose chief geological formation is igneus,” he 
proposed a second plan. “ By embankments placed in the most ad¬ 
vantageous position” two lakes are to be formed upon each side of 
the ridge, which, being cut through, ships can pass from lake to lake, 
and lock down to either ocean from the opposite extremities. “ The 
only objection” to this plan, is, he thinks, “the loss of land inunda¬ 
ted.” “ I hope,” he adds, “ a tract of country will be found where one 
or the other of these cases is applicable.” It is very remarkable that 
Mr. Gisborne found a country adapted to this plan. 

This expedition was long delayed in Cartejena, awaiting Dr. Cul¬ 
len, who was occupied with business connected with the survey be¬ 
fore the Congress of Bogota. “ I determined to wait for the English 
mails,” writes Mr. Gisborne, “due here the 25th, otherwise I should 
certainly not spend three weeks waiting for Dr. Cullen.” On another 
day, “ an instrumental survey,” he prognosticates, “ seems to be out 
of the question, so that our levels, theodolites, sextants, and chains, 
will probably remain in the same box Troughton and Simms con¬ 
signed them to on our departure from England.” 

Again, “ I have read and listened about Darien Indians, their cru¬ 
elty and jealousy, until I am callous and unbelieving ; but it frets me to 
remain in doubt, ebbing out an existence in Cartejena. I have deter¬ 
mined,” he says, “ to wait ten days longer—then D. V. Cullen, or no 
Cullen, I shall try what can be done with these ungovernable Indians.” 

Waiting impatiently, he speculates upon the Aurora Borealis, ge¬ 
ology, magnetic observations ; ingeniously proposing, by the automatic 
action of appropriate machinery, to make all meteorological phenom¬ 
ena register its name and mission in a room selected for that pur¬ 
pose. This he calls a “ meteorological loom in which the web of 
time is spun with the present for a pattern.” 


Stopped by the Indians. 65 

“May 29th—The Bogota mail has come, but no letter from Dr. 
Cullen. Every thing here is manana (to-morrow).” 

He again takes to speculating on fortifications, and the beauty of 
the senoritas. A reasonable man would have been contented. But 
he leaves this primrose path to write, “ Dr. Cullen has neither writ¬ 
ten, nor appeared in person, and I am beginning to have my doubts 
whether he will do so.” In the meantime Cullen was hammering 
at the “manana” Congress at Bogota. 

After waiting six weeks he left Cartejena in disgust, and landed, 
without the indefatigable Doctor, in Caledonia Bay. Here he spent 
two days wandering among the hills with his barometer, his spirits 
going down as the mercury went up. 

He was arrested by three half-naked Indians, who, in an unintelli¬ 
gible language, but plainly to be understood gestures, commanded 
him to follow. This he prudently acquiesced in, but not until he had, 
as he thought, ascertained the dividing ridge between the Atlantic 
and the Pacific to be 272 feet above tide. Falling asleep, with a con¬ 
tented mind, he thought he heard the roar of the surf of the Pacific, 
but his companion, Ford, very shrewdly suggested that they were still 
within hearing of the Atlantic. With a gentle admonition that they 
must never be caught there again they were permitted to return to 
their boat. 

Naturally, he could not forbear another fling at the helpless Dr. 
Cullen. “ I had not much faith in Dr. Cullen’s map, as his descrip¬ 
tions of land south-west of Port Escocds were directly contrary to the 
fact.” 

The comment, on his failure may puzzle the reader. “ I am far 
more satisfied at having failed in crossing from Port Escoces than to 
have crossed and returned (supposing that-was possible with safety), 
and reported a summit 275 feet, when, within a few miles, one of 40 
is to be got further inland.” 

“ It is dangerous to argue by induction,” observes Mr. Gisborne, 
and he gives 238 pages in illustration of this truth. 

Nothing daunted by his failure to 'effect a transit from the At¬ 
lantic side of the Isthmus, he determines to proceed to Panama, and 
to make another attempt from San Miguel on the Pacific. Proceed¬ 
ing up the Savana river he disembarked with his Asst. Ford, who 
had charge of the mountain barometer, and penetrating two days’ 
journey into the interior, he is warned by a log over a stream that he 
had reached the country of his enemies, the Caledonia Indians. Re¬ 
membering their parting injunction he returned. 

“A dreamy hope of success,” he writes, “is strengthened by in- 

5 


66 


Returns to England. 


ductive argument, the cause of former failures leads to generalizations 
of geological theories, and topographical analogy, and it was this con¬ 
viction that cheered me under all difficulties, making suffering an 
indispensable appendage of success.” 

Consoling himself with such reflections he met Dr. Cullen at 
Panama, in high dudgeon. The Doctor reproached him with having 
broken his instructions, and required that he should return to San 
Miguel. Gisborne was recalcitrant. “Feeling satisfied that a ship 
canal could be made across Darien, he urged Dr. Cullen to come to 
England, and, as he said he was without money, I offered to advance 
the passage money.” 

This generous offer was accepted. Having found, as he believed, 
a summit of 150 feet above tide, corresponding with Dr. Cullen’s 
statement, he submits two plans to his employers. One for a thor¬ 
ough-cut without locks ; the other by the junction of two lakes, for 
which he had found a suitable physical conformity, in remarkable har¬ 
mony with his prophetic speculations before reaching Cartejena. 

The first plan was estimated to cost £12,500,000, or about $62,- 
500,000. 

The friends of the measure in London were elated by the repre¬ 
sentations of the expeditionists. 

The Atlantic and Pacific Junction Company was incorporated by 
royal charter, or act of Parliament. The capital, limited to £15,- 
000,000, was disposed of in shares of £100 each. A deposit of ten 
shillings on each share was to be made without further liability, 
forming a sum of ,£75,000 for preliminary expenses. 

A provisional directory was organized, with Lord Wharncliffe as 
chairman. Upon the publication of their prospectus, a lively corre¬ 
spondence sprang up between the London Times and Sir Charles Fox. 
The writer of the Times is charged with want of appreciation of the 
merits of the Darien route, and retorts, that if no one is to question 
Sir Charles Fox’s views, or even speak of their inaccuracies, there 
must be an end of discussion. 

While this controversy 'was raging, another expedition was 
being organized, in numbers and appliances far exceeding any 
previous attempt, with the same object. England, France, and the 
United States cooperated with New Granada. Not since the 
landing of Paterson had so formidable an expedition appeared in 
that region. 

When the Virago entered the Bay of San Miguel, the Scorpion 
and l’Espeigle, with Mr. Gisborne and Dr. Cullen on board, anchored 
in Caledonia Bay. The French ship, La Chimere, and the American 


Lieut. Strains Misfortunes . 67 

corvette, Cyane, Lieut. Strain, at the same time joined the expedition, 
raising the united crews to the number of 700 men. 

The Granadian Government, in furtherance of the object of the 
expedition, had established a depot near the junction of the rivers 
Savana and Lara. It was confidently believed that the practicability 
of the Darien route was about to be set at rest forever. 

Relying on Mr. Gisborne’s and Dr. Cullen’s reports, Lieut. Strain, 
with a party of twenty-seven men, two Granadian Commissioners, and 
ten days’ provisions, pushed forward up the bed of the Caledonia 
River. Here, taking advantage of an opening among the trees, he 
examined, with a spy-glass, the range of Cordillera, to find a semi-cir¬ 
cular chain 1500 to 2000 feet in height. He concluded that this 
route could not be that alluded to by Mr. Gisborne and Dr. Cullen. 
He still pushed forward up arduous ascents. A seaman of the Cyane 
climbed a tree to reconnoiter the country, and reported nothing but 
hills and mountains in every direction. For a pathetic account of this 
unfortunate expedition, the reader is referred to Harper s Monthly , 
Vol. X. 

After forty days of wandering, subsisting for the time chiefly on 
sour palmetto berries, emaciated with hunger, lacerated with thorns, 
sick, and half naked, Strain, having hastened ahead of his party, 
sought succor in Yvisa. Proceeding to the Savana, he presented 
himself to the English agent, who, receiving him with every kindness, 
shed tears at the sight. Securing assistance, which was reluctantly 
granted, at Yvisa, he hastily returned to find the remnant of his 
party, feebly struggling back toward Caledonia Bay, having lost five 
of their number, among whom were the two Granadian Commis¬ 
sioners. 

Strain, mistaking the Chuquanaqua for the Savana, reached the 
Pacific by the longest route. He claims that his expedition “has 
disproved a magnificent preconceived theory,” and that instead of a 
summit-level of 150 feet, it is at least 1000 feet. 

Three days after the departure of Strain, “another party, com¬ 
posed of English and FreAch together, under the guidance of Dr. 
Cullen and Mr. Gisborne, set out from the same point, and endeav¬ 
ored to follow in his track.” “ Gisborne and Cullen could not follow 
their own maps,” and after having “penetrated not more than six 
miles in all, returned.” Mr. Gisborne, observes the narrator in the 
Nouvelles Annales des Voyages , “dementait completement” his former 
statements. They failed to confirm the first statements, and the 
London company, organized with such high hope's, was dissolved. 

On the heels of Gisborne and Cullen, the Granadian expedition. 


68 


Captain Prevost fails to cross. 


under the command of Codazzi, made a cotemporaneous essay. 
“ How far,” says Strain, “ it penetrated is not known ; but, struggling 
over the space of a mile, it was broken up, and returned after having 
lost several men.” 

While failure and misfortune was befalling the exploring parties 
starting from the Atlantic coast, another attempt was made at the 
same time to effect a transit from the now notable Savana. Capt. 
Prevost, of the Virago, after advancing twenty-six miles, at the rate 
of one and one-half miles per day, returned again to the Savana, 
followed, says Mr. Gisborne, by two hundred hostile Indians. Four 
sailors, left to guard a depot of provisions, were found murdered. 

Capt. Prevost failed to find a practicable pass. Crossing valleys 
which probably led to the Pacific, the altitude of which is not given, 
he terminated his survey at a summit of 1080 feet above the level of 
the ocean. “ L’execution de canal interoceaneque etait devenue a 
peu pris impracticable,” remarks the reviewer. 

After an examination of the maps of Gisborne, Prevost, Strain, 
and Codazzi, there seems to be a general agreement in placing the 
summit of the ridge at not less than one thousand feet above the 
level of the tide. The united maps of Prevost and Gisborne exhibit 
their routes, proceeding from opposite points and intersecting, and 
the continuous profile between the two oceans fails to solve the 
question of a practicable route. As one of these parties had the ad¬ 
vantage of Dr. Cullen’s personal guidance, it is but fair to allow him 
to supplement his first statement by an explanation of the causes 
which led to a failure so complete and unexpected. 

Speaking of the party from the Virago, he observes that Capt. 
Prevost “ directed his explorations too far to the north-west.” That 
when it stopped he was but thirty miles from the point where the line 
should pass. 

Strain, on the other hand, erred by going “too far to the south¬ 
west;” In a word, the true line is to be found in the golden mean 
in which Aristotle places all virtue. 

But he has so far modified his first statement that he now thinks 
a line, “with tunneling,” may be found between Sucubti and Port 
Escocds. Under nine heads, he enumerates the advantages of this 
route. 

The reader has, perhaps, concluded that, like Pantagruel’s army, 
this subject is pretty well covered with tongue, and he may even 
adopt the conclusion of a distinguished attorney-general upon the 
fallibility of this unruly member. But one or two of the nine may 
be quoted. Under No. 7 Dr. Cullen states the land rises to nine 


French Expedition under Bourdiol. 


69 


hundred and thirty feet, and that here a tunnel will be required. 
No. 8 states that between this point and the Pacific no obstacle is 
to be found. The divide of one hundred and fifty feet, first discov¬ 
ered by Dr. Cullen, expanded to ten times that altitude. 

If men of intelligence and education can so err, all statements 
of persons whose previous habits and studies have not fitted them 
for passing judgment upon the relative merits of different canal routes 
should be received with caution. 

The failure of this formidable effort of four Governments to dis¬ 
cover a practicable route for a ship canal between Caledonia Bay and 
the Gulf of San Miguel, while it disappointed reasonable expectation, 
stimulated public curiosity. The French, in nowise discouraged, de¬ 
termined to make another effort. The Granadian Minister, Francisco 
Martin, and Senator F. Barrow, signed, at Paris, a treaty embodying 
certain concession. 

According to agreement, the survey was to be conducted from 
the head of the Chuquanaqua toward the village of Monti, where 
Codazzi represented a summit of 460 feet. 

M. Bourdiol, Civil Engineer, with a party of fifteen persons— 
afterward increased to twenty by the addition of some natives— 
proceeded carefully, cutting their way, and chaining and leveling at 
the rate of about a mile a day. Reaching the Chuquanaqua below 
the junction of the Sucubti, he was compelled to desist, by the ap¬ 
proach of the rainy season. He returned to Panama after an absence 
of sixty days. 

The nearest approach to a determination of a pass by M. Bourdiol 
appears in the rather equivocal statement, that the origin of the valley 
of Monti is one hundred and eighty-two metres (about 597 feet). 

If all of these explorers had left some permanent mark at the ter¬ 
mination of their surveys, succeeding parties could have taken up the 
line where the former left off, and the determination of a practicable 
route could have been made in one-half the time now required. 

M. Bourdiol affirms that he verified the height of the Sucubti, as 
given by Codazzi and Gisborne, but it is not apparent how he found 
the same points determined by these engineers. 

Where so many failed, with every accessory and advantage likely 
to assure success, the pertinent inquiry suggests itself, Is there any 
one fact in common which may serve to explain failures so universal ? 
All find difficulties in cutting the way, requiring natives accustomed 
to the use of the machete ; all are misled by imperfect maps, which 
fail to give the altitude of the passes and the true course of the rivers. 
While one party is turned .back by the rainy season, another is stopped 


yo Condensed Statement of the Results of all the Expeditions. 

by the Indians, another by want of time. But one party succeeded in 
crossing from sea to sea, but under such circumstances that each day 
was a struggle for existence, to the exclusion of the scientific objects 
of the expedition. 

The hostility of the Indians, although not always stated, appears 
to have been the chief obstacle to a careful exploration ; and internal 
dissension concurred to bring failure upon the best appointed of these 
expeditions. 

The following table presents, at one view, all that is known of the 
Darien routes: 


NAMES. 

LOCALITY. 

SUMMIT 

REPORTED 

REMARKS. 

Cullen. 

Savana, Port Escoces. 
(( u 

( Started at Caledonia 
l Bay. 

Caledonia Bay. 
Savana River, 
u « 

FEET. 
I5O ? 
I50 ? 

980! 
IOOO-|- 

1080 
597 ? 

“ Crossed and recrossed ?” 

Saw across to former position ? 
f Second attempt and failed to 
\ cross over. 

Lost his way on the Chuquanaqua. 
Did not see the Pacific. 

Turned back by rain. 

Oishorne. 

Cullen. 

Gisborne. 

Strain. 

Prevost. 

Ronrdiol.. . 



It would appear, at the first glance, that the question of a practi¬ 
cable route across the Isthmus of Darien was settled by these ex¬ 
plorers.* Dr. Cullen, notwithstanding the unfortunate result of his 
early prognostications, still remains sanguine, and opines that the val¬ 
leys of the Aglatomente and Aglasenaca afford levels favorable to a 
canal; but Gisborne’s map represents the water-shed of the Aglasenaca 
at 1,020 feet above the level of the sea, and supplies no indications of 
a lower summit. But Capt. Prevost gives some important testimony. 
In a letter to Admiral Moresby, written after the return of his expe¬ 
dition, he speaks of valleys at a lower level than any yet discovered, 
leading to the Pacific. His map confirms this statement. Capt. 
Parsons, R. N., of the Scorpion, testifies to the same effect. From 
the deck of his vessel he could discern a very decided break in the 
ridge, which appeared continuous when viewed from other points. 

These estimates we have learned to receive with caution. “A 
dreamy hope of success is strengthened by inductive argument, 1 ” 
observes Mr. Gisborne, “ the cause of former failures leads to general¬ 
izations,” etc., and such faint lights have so far proved veritable will- 
o’-the-wisps. In the present instance, concurrent opinion is highly 


* An announcement in the Cincinnati Commercial declares that the exploring party now at 
Darien have failed to find a practicable route at that point.—[May n, 1870. 




















San Miguel to the Gulf of Uraba — Atrato. *j\ 

favorable. The appearance of isolated summits, and disjointed and 
dislocated character of schistose and trychitic rock; the testimony of 
Prevost and Parsons, to the appearance of a break in the ridge; the 
fact that Col. Hughes found at Panama a summit of two hundred and 
eighty feet above the sea, at two miles north of the line, upon which 
Garella could not find less than four hundred and fifty-nine feet above 
the same level; all these facts, if not “ confirmations strong as proofs 
of Holy Writ,” are more than “trifles light as air,” and go far to con¬ 
firm the opinion that the Isthmus of Darien has not been sufficiently 
explored. 

SAN MIGUEL TO THE GULF OF URABA. 

Sr. Gorgoza, a Granadian, represents that he has passed over this 
line, and found an altitude of one hundred and ninety feet. How this 
elevation was determined without a barometer or spirit-level is not 
clear. This part of the Isthmus is referred to in general terms by 
Humboldt, Fitzroy, and Trautwine, but as these authorities echo 
each other, the inference derives little additional strength from their 
concurrence. 


ATRATO. 

Taking leave of the Darien surveys, the explorations in the prov¬ 
ince of Choco come next in order. Under this head are included 
the surveys made in the valley of the Atrato. Success appears to 
have accompanied these operations, as disaster followed the Darien 
expeditions. The hopes centering in any one Isthmean route have 
been in the inverse ratio of the information concerning them. 

The indispensable desiderata of a summit of moderate elevation, 
and deep harbors, have not yet been found existing conjointly to¬ 
gether. The volcanic agency which hollowed out deep basins where 
ships may securely anchor, has, at the same time, given unusual alti¬ 
tude to the dividing ridge. Shallow harbors and low divides, and 
deep harbors and great altitudes, accompany each other with the per¬ 
sistence of a law. 

As the explorations dissipated the hope of one route, another was 
taken up. Vague rumors continually reach us similar to those we 
have already encountered. One of the latest of these is this: A Mr. 
or Sr. Gorgoza, a resident of New Granada, has found a short and 
easy transit across the Cordillera, between the Gulf of San Miguel 
and Uraba (or Darien), by ascending the Tuyra, and crossing the val¬ 
ley of the Atrato. According to his statement, the depression in the 
divide is not more than 190 feet above the mean tide, and the dis- 


72 Gorgoza and De La Charme. 

tance between head waters, navigable by canoes, is not more than 
three miles. 

DE LA CHARME ROUTE—BY THE WAY OF TUYRA, PAYA, AND CAQUARRI 
TO THE ATRATA. 

The March number of Putnam s Monthly contains a description 
of a route surveyed by M. De La Charme, which occupies a position 
between the Darien routes, and the line between Humboldt Bay and 
the Atrato, surveyed by Lieut. Michler. 

The article referred to gives an account of what appears to be the 
latest reconnoissance made in that region, and claims for its author, 
M. De La Charme, “the right of discovery.” Of this survey Sr. De 
Gorgoza is the patron and prime mover. 

The attention of Sr. De Gorgoza was called to this route by cer¬ 
tain “documents” containing “hints about passages used by the In¬ 
dians in crossing the Cordilleras.” These documents consisted of 
“reports by the civil and ecclesiastical authorities about the province 
of Balboa, which was, at that time, of great importance, from its rich 
gold mines,” and are probably as reliable as any other civil and eccle¬ 
siastical reports of the pious marauders of that period. These reports 
were accompanied by “a map,” which seems, from a reference upon 
page 133, to have been that remarkable specimen of puzzling topog¬ 
raphy, known as Arisa’s map, a copy of which may be found ap¬ 
pended to the report of Admiral Davis. The usual reference is made 
to those unconscious pioneers of interoceanic canal routes, the fili¬ 
busters, “who carried off quantities of gold, to the great detriment 
of the Spanish treasury,” etc., etc. 

This reliable evidence is further corroborated by the flight of 
birds. Some Pissisi ducks providentially appear to lead our explorer 
upon the right path, and M. De La Charme is so convinced that the 
route will be found in the direction taken by these web-footed engi¬ 
neers, that he confidently affirms “ there remained to me no doubt 
but at this place I should find the desired passage. So persuaded,” 
he “ prosecuted his work with confidence.” 

Many immaterial facts are circumstantially related, but we are not 
told by what method the survey was conducted, nor whether M. De 
La Charme was assisted in his work by professional engineers. With¬ 
out such assistance, his duties must have been complicated and labo¬ 
rious. As mention is made of bogas and laborers only, we must con¬ 
clude that this arduous duty was performed without any intelligent 
assistance. 

Pie states that strict attention was given to barometric measure- 


Their Route . 


73 

ments. The notes should have been supplied in proof of the accuracy 
of his conclusions. 

The irregularities of the barometer along the dividing ridge of the 
Isthmus and in South America have been noticed by Moro, Hughes, 
Herndon, Maury, Michler, and other observers. Used with extreme 
care, and according to the method recommended by Lieut. Col. Wil¬ 
liamson, U. S. A., the results obtained with this instrument are affected 
by discrepancies and anomalies, which, along the Andes, vitiate the 
most careful observations, and elude the grasp of the best formulae. 

A favorable reconnoissance with the barometer, in this region, 
should receive a careful verification with more accurate instruments, 
but it can not be regarded as establishing the feasibility of a route. 

The map of M. De La Charme, like that of Dr. Cullen, is made up 
from old maps. The additional topographical information is not laid 
down. 

Two parties were sent to the Isthmus to verify this route. One, 
composed of French engineers, was under the charge of M. Flacat; 
the other, composed of American engineers, was under the direction 
of Mr. Spooner. With both the principals Sr. De Gorgoza quarreled, 
and the parties returned without accomplishing the work for which 
they had made so long a journey. 

The following paragraphs contain all that M. De La Charme claims 
to have established. If correct, he is justly entitled to the right of 
discovery, in the furtherance of which claim “he considers it his 
duty to publish the present memorandum.” 

“ This canal should go in a straight course E. 20° S. from Real 
Viejo to the village of Paya, thence south-east through the passage 
between the Cordilleras and the Andes, and, finally, easterly or north- 
eastedy, as should prove best for the navigation from the Atlantic by 
the Atrato. It would not be more than fifty miles long, and would 
traverse a country whose formation presents no difficulties to the 
opening of the same, either in the excavation or in the removal of the 
materials excavated, an important point in works of this kind. 

“ The highest point or summit-level of the route thus explored was 
near the village of Paya. It was, by barometrical measurement, one 
hundred and seventy-eight feet (about 55 metres) above the level of 
the sea, and this must necessarily be very nearly the true altitude. 
And, it may be added, the field notes of the expedition contain satis¬ 
factory data respecting the questions of practical engineering involved, 
such as feeders, locks,” etc. 

So little accurate information exists in regard to the topography 
of the Isthmus, there is always a probability in favor of the discovery 


74 


Porter s and KennisJis Routes. 


of new routes. But the uncertainty which must attach to the san¬ 
guine representations based upon interested but unprofessional ex¬ 
aminations, has been made sufficiently apparent. Such statements 
can not be accepted without verification. This is doubtless all that 
Sr. Gorgoza desires. 

ROUTES OF PORTER, KENNISH, AND TRAUTWINE. 

In July, 1857, the results of a survey from the Atrato to the 
Pacific, made by Mr. Kennish, under the direction of F. W. Kelley, 
were laid before the Secretaries of War and Navy. Mr. Trautwine 
had previously surveyed the Atrato from its mouth to its head, 
crossing the ridge in three places, obtaining much valuable informa¬ 
tion. Mr. Porter made a survey in 1853. The survey of Mr. Ken¬ 
nish, before alluded to, was made in 1855. 

Commencing at the mouth of the Atrato River, the work to be 
done is described as follows : The mouth of the Atrato being ob¬ 
structed by bars, the cano coquito, by which the river is to be united 
with the Gulf of Uraba, having at the present time a depth of four 
feet water, is to be excavated to a depth of thirty feet. From thence 
sixty-five miles to the mouth of the Truando, the depth is not less 
than forty-seven feet. The bar at the mouth of the Truando is 
eighteen feet. For six miles the river has an average depth of four¬ 
teen feet. From thence to the Pacific, twenty-six miles, much of the 
distance is through solid rock. At 505 feet above the ocean level, 
Mr. Kennish proposes to pierce the divide by a tunnel three and 
one-half miles in length, sufficiently large to admit two ships abreast. 

The harbor at the Pacific terminus requires improvement; guard 
locks not considered necessary. Total length of the line, one hundred 
and twenty-six miles. The results of this survey were regarded as 
highly favorable by the friends of the measure. 

Mr. Kelley regarded his labors and expenditures as well rewarded. 
“Franklin,” he observes, “was not more delighted when he drew 
lightning from the clouds, nor Columbus when he discovered Amer¬ 
ica, than I was when it was demonstrated, by instrumental measure¬ 
ment, that the two oceans could be united, that all the science, in¬ 
dustry, enlightened enterprise, and generous expenditure had not 
been exhausted in vain.” 

To verify this survey, Congress authorized the Secretaries of War 
and Navy to organize a joint expedition. In accordance with this 
authority, the Secretary of the Navy designated Com. Craven. This 
gallant officer was afterward sunk off Mobile, and lost with all the 
crew of his ship. 


General Michler s Route. 


75 


michler’s route. 

To Lieut. N. Michler, Corps of Topographical Engineers, (now 
Brevet Brigadier-General,) the execution of the topographical survey 
was assigned. The operations of this officer were published in the 
form of a diary, with special scientific reports and observations, ac¬ 
companied by maps and profiles. The special reports embrace obser¬ 
vations upon geology, botony, hipsometrical and astronomical deter¬ 
minations, climatology, and field notes. 

The itinerary is full and interesting, supplying information valu¬ 
able to future explorers. The reader is never asked to accept a 
statement upon the ipse dixit of the writer. The observation of a 
corps of intelligent surveyors is laid before the reader. 

The line adopted by General Michler may be described as follows: 
To avoid the bar at the mouth of the Atrato, a canal, about two and 
one-half miles, is to be cut through the channel of the cano coquito. 
The mouth of this cano is protected by nature from the prevailing 
winds. The Atrato affords navigation for the largest ships. The 
remaining part of the line is described in General Michler’s words: 
“ Let the first section follow the projected line referred to above, across 
the Lagunas to its intersection with the Truando; the second section 
connects this last point by a straight line with the head of the Pali- 
zadas ; the third extends in a direct line to the foot of the Saltos ; the 
fourth in a curved line to the head of the Saltos, including a tunnel 
of 800 feet through the Sierra de los Saltos; the fifth leads directly 
to the mouth of the river Grundo, a tributary of the Nercua ; the 
sixth leaves the valley of the Nercua at the point by a straight line, 
perpendicular to the axis of the Cordilleras de los Andes, and, after 
piercing the mountains with a tunnel 12,500 feet in length, continues 
on to the mouth of the Chuparador; the seventh follows for some 
distance down the valley of the river Paracuchichf; and, lastly, the 
eighth strikes in a direct line for the Bahia Ensenada, or Estero de 
Paracuchichf. 

“ The line proposed by Mr. Kennish differs very materially from the 
one just described. It leaves the Atrato at the mouth of the Truando, 
and follows the meanderings of the stream to its junction with the 
Nercua; it then ascends the valleys of the latter and of the Hingador, 
and strikes across the mountains to the Pacific. The length of the 
cut by his plan is stated in his report to be 56.08 miles. 

“ In order to complete the line of canal communication between 
the Atrato and the Pacific, it is necessary to connect the Estero de 
Paracuchichf with Humboldt’s Bay. It is proposed to do this by a 


76 


Extracts from Michler's Report. 


cut from the former across the peninsula, and then by building out in 
its prolongation, from the shores of the latter, jetties to form a passage 
through the surf into deep water of the ocean. The depth of the cut 
between them will have to be sufficient to allow for the swells of the 
latter, at least from thirty-five to forty feet below low tide.” 

To connect the Atrato with the Pacific by a canal without locks, 
there would be 95 miles of river navigation, and 52! miles of canal, 
making an aggregate length of 147I miles. 

The following table gives the different items and the total cost of 
the work: 


Interoceanic Ship Ccmal. 

Summary of the estimated cost of the canal a?id appurienances. 


OBJECT OF EXPENDITURE. 

ESTIMATE 

BY GEN. MICHEE* 

FOR EXCAVATION 

AND TUNNELING. 

Works at the mouth of the Atrato .... 

$ 500,000 
2 4,835,I73 
64,774,95° 

13,995,000 

J. I co.OOO 

Excavation of earth....... 

Rock cuttings ... 

Tunneling ... . .. . 

Pacific, harhor improvements...... 

Light-house... 

35,000 

2C.OOO 


Depots on Pacific.......... 

CO. 000 

Depots on line, and hospital... 

2C.OOO 

Depot at junction ..... 

15,000 

120,000 

Executive department.... 

Engineer department___...________ 

27 C.OOO 

Medical department... ... 

80,000 

Pay department......... 

Commissary department ....... 

90^000 

120,000 

I 9 c 000 

Qiiartermaster’s department....... 

Dredging machinery... 

7 CO^OOO 

Hoisting and pumping engines’ machinery...... 

875,000 


Add 25 per cent, for contingencies........... 

$ io 7 , 5 6o , i2 3 

26,890,031 



$* 34 , 45 °, 154 


This estimate supposes the dimensions of the canal to be 100 feet 
wide and 30 feet deep. This rate ($2.50) per cubic yard is evidently 
too small. Estimating this tunnel at the contract price being em¬ 
ployed ($5.40), the cost will be $30,229,200; and should the price 
reach the not improbable limit of $10 per cubic yard, the cost will 
be increased to $55,970,000. Substituting these sums in place of the 
cost of tunneling as given in the above estimate, and the total cost of 
the canal along this route will, in the first case, be $150,684,354, and. 






























Extracts from Michlers Report. 


77 

in the second case, $176,625,154, which is not excessive, if the tunnel 
is to be lined throughout. 

The Penaebach tunnel is the only one in England that is self-sup¬ 
porting. It is driven through solid basalt. The Penmaenwhr tunnel, 
pierced through hard green-stone, had to be lined throughout; and the 
Bangor tunnel, supposed to be sufficiently firm, was afterward cased 
with brick. It has been found necessary to line some of the tunnels 
of the Washington aqueduct, which are driven through very hard 
gneiss. 

Before taking leave of this instructive report, we have selected 
some interesting portions of the narrative and scientific statements 
for quotation : 

“ The great falls of the Hingador are grand and exceedingly ro¬ 
mantic, and equal in height and beauty to many of those in other 
countries which elicit so much admiration from all lovers of magnifi¬ 
cent scenery. The valley itself is pleasant to gaze upon; many 
bright streams gush into it, and impart additional charms to the 
already picturesque landscape of falls and rapids, and rich tropical 
vegetation. Several thermal springs were discovered at the foot of 
the great falls. 

“As the party had to wade through the water, over smooth and 
slippery rocks, and clamber up steep precipices, it took four days to 
accomplish this section of the survey. Several fragments of rocks 
were broken off at the head of the falls for subsequent analysis. 
According to the report of the geologist, of which the following is an 
extract, ‘the rocky falls were found to be overcoated with a light, 
shaly conglomerate of a cemented texture, and containing, imbedded 
in a calcareous matrix, coarse sand and gravel. Higher up, in one 
of the western head branches of this stream, a more consolidated 
semi-rock was noticed, containing copiously interspersed fragments 
of little shells. This rock seems also to be impregnated with car¬ 
bonate of lime/ ” 

The character of the natives may be gathered from the extract: 
“January 30th, 1858—Whilst seated on the rocks overlooking the 
falls, and listening to the music of the roaring waters, as they rushed 
fiercely past, with an occasional anxious glance at the curve of the 
river above, in expectancy of the momentary appearance of the long- 
expected canoe, the attention was suddenly drawn toward a long line 
of Indians, men, women, and children, emerging from the trail over 
the Sierra. As they filed by, several familiar faces were seen, and a 
kindly nod of recognition given and returned. Each bore a pack, 
from the largest to the smallest; these rested upon the back, and 


78 


Extracts from Michlers Report. 


were supported by bands, composed of the bark of trees, which passed 
in front of the forehead. Most of their effects were packed away in 
baskets, made of bark of certain trees, and very neatly manufactured. 
They proved to be old friends from Tocome, and were en route to 
make a visit to one of their Tambos, on the Nercua. All fear as to 
moving ahead was dispelled at sight of them. After depositing their 
loads on the rocks, near the small haven, just above the falls, they all 
left again as quietly as they had come, in order to bring up their 
canoes over the Saltos. 

* Whilst the members of the engineer corps were extremely anx¬ 
ious to discharge their duties accurately and faithfully, and to prose¬ 
cute, in the most thorough manner, every conceivable examination 
which could, in the remotest degree, furnish additional information 
in reference to the great work upon which they were engaged; still, 
circumstances over which they had no control, such as their want of 
provisions, and the scarcity of money wherewith to purchase and re¬ 
new even necessary supplies, compelled them to turn back from the 
Pacific, and leave unaccomplished the reconnoissance of both the 
Paracuchichi and Jurador rivers. To have rendered their labors 
complete these examinations should have been made in connection 
with their other most interesting duties. The future survey of these 
streams, and more especially of the former, together with that of the 
country, between its head-waters and those of the Pavarador, a tribu¬ 
tary of the Nercua, and also between some of the tributaries of the 
Truando and the coast, at some more southern point of Humboldt 
Bay, may throw a flood of light upon the feasibility of the work in 
contemplation.” 

He again expresses his regret that he was unable to extend his 
examination: 

“ It is to be greatly regretted that circumstances prevented the 
party from gaining more minute information concerning the valley 
of the Paracuchichi, and of the transversal passes leading from it 
through the mountains into the valley of a large tributary of the 
Truando, which flows in only a few miles above its mouth. As this 
river has more than twice the quantity of water possessed by the 
Nercua, it is highly probable that a still more favorable route can be 
found leading out from its valley above the junction.” 

The following table of comparison between altitudes, determined 
by the level and by barometric observations, shows how much has been 
gained in accuracy, since the time of Humboldt, in the use of the 
barometer: 


Barometric—L evels. 


79 


Table of data used in computing the various heights, with the results as 
compared with the heights obtained by the level. 


STATIONS. 


Sea coast. 

First camp on Truando. 

Tocame. 

Foot of Saltos. 

Observatory Hill. 

Head Salto Grande. 

Head of Saltos. 

Junction of Rivers Nercua and Truando. 

Tambo. 

First Ridge west of Rio Nercua. 

{ No. 1362.. 

No. 1363.. 

Camp on Hingador. 

Dividing Ridge. 

Rio Chupepe. 

Rio Totumia, below Dos Bocas. 


BAROMETRIC 

HEIGHT. 


M • 
>4 

f- W 
X > 

o w 
~ 1-1 
W 
X 


W 

u 

z 

w 

CC 

W 

s 


INCHES. 

29.874 
29.817 
29.805 

2 9*7 59 
29.663 
29.741 
29.737 


DEG. 

80. 

75-4 

76.8 

76.1 

76.6 

75-9 

75-9 


29.674 
29.607 
28.815 
29.053 


77 * 

77 * 

75.2 

75.2 


FEET. 


FEET. 


FEET. 


. 5^*39 

. 69.6 

. I22.65 

. 2 ° 7*45 

. J 3 2 -3 

. 138.1 

. ! 9 2 -5 

.260.92 

.1,046.45 

.809.42 

Mean . 879.9 


44*57 

+ 

13.82 

57*39 


12.21 

97*5 


25.15 

204.95 


2*5 

i 3 8 -79 

— 

6.49 

183.47 


45*37 

192.6 

+ 

0.44 

264.4 

— 

3*48 

7 9 1 *23 

+ 

18.19 


28.912 
29.074 

28.913 
29.631 
29.837 


75*2 

75.2 

75.2 

75.2 

75.2 


949.94 

788.6 

948.5 

240.24 

40.6 


814.32 

947-44 

24I-35 

45*3 


+ 


25.72 
1.06 
1.11 
5.24 


These hypsometric determinations differ from the true levels at 
the points of observation from two to forty-five feet. These figures 
fall considerably within the limit of error considered as probable by 
Baron Humboldt. This distinguished observer states that the bar¬ 
ometer may be trusted to determine heights to within from seventy- 
five or ninety feet of the truth. 


* At this station the difference in the readings of the barometers was so great that the height 
was computed from the mean of the readings of each instrument separately. In other cases the 
united mean of both was used. The height given in the table was computed from the readings 
of the barometer which was used as a standard. 




















































8o 


Physico-Geographical Features. 


CHAPTER VII. 


Physico-Geographical Features—Deficiency of Information—Barometer—Colonel Williamson— 
Lieutenants Gibbon, Herndon and Maury—Senor Moro—Popagayos—Influence of the 
Andes—Climate—Rainy Season—Colonel Hughes—Statistics—Population—Indians—Vege¬ 
tation—Building Materials—Woods—Geology. 

T HE present chapter includes certain physico-geographical fea¬ 
tures subsidiary to the duties of the engineer and explorer. The 
object of this paper excludes all matter, not possessing practical 
value for this purpose, and admits of little more than mere mention. 

The previous chapters indicate a deficiency in information in re¬ 
gard to the following routes : 

i. Nicaragua—The practicability of a route between Monkey 
Point and the Lake Nicaragua, or San Juan River. 

2. Chiriqui—No information extant. 

3. Panama route, and improvement of the harbors. 

4. San Bias and Chepo—A better line may be practicable. 

5. Caledonia Bay, or the Gulf of Uraba to the Gulf of San Mi¬ 
guel, by way of the Savana or Lara Rivers. 

6. Examination of the depression noticed by Gen. Michler. 

7. The line proposed by Sr. Gorgoza. 

The elevation of the passes upon these routes should be definitely 
fixed. The instrument which must determine the question of practica¬ 
bility is the Wye spirit-level. If the capacity of the harbors are in¬ 
sufficient for the largest class of ships, or can not be made available 
at a reasonable cost, further examination is unnecessary. 

BAROMETER. 

Notwithstanding the improved formulae, and more careful method 
of observation recommended by Lieut.-Col. Williamson, Corps Engi¬ 
neers, the barometer is subject to peculiar and anomalous variations, 
along the slopes of the Cordillera of the Isthmus and the Andes. 
Lieuts. Gibbon and Herndon refer to this phenomenon. Lieut. 
Maury attributed the effect to the damming or piling up of the trade- 
winds against the mountains. A recent traveler in the valley of the 


Senor Moro. 


81 


Amazon, I. Orton, observed the same phenomenon, but objects to 
Maury’s theory. 

Sr. Moro makes the following observations : “If, under these cir¬ 
cumstances (prevalent winds), barometrical observations are made 
simultaneously on both sides of the Sierra, on the side of the Gulf, 
they will exhibit a lower elevation than the true one, the error being 
greater as that station may happen to be lower down or more towards 
the north; but if time should admit of waiting until the weather be 
equally fine on both sides (which seldom happens), then the difference 
between the levels of the barometrical columns is insensible.” 

Ventosa is peculiarly windy, and Nicaragua is subject to the Pop- 
agayos, a species of monsoon, upon the Pacific coast. But the more 
placid climate of the Atrato is similarly affected. “ It is known as 
an established fact,” remarks Capt. Kennish, “ that the clouds seldom 
pass over the Cordillera toward the Pacific, but are attracted by the 
mountains, and disgorge themselves on the Atlantic side; hence the 
reason of the perpetual rain, thunder, and lightning in the Atrato 
Valley, while on the Pacific coast there is scarcely any rain for eight 
months of the year.” 

This unequal meteorological condition affects the barometer, and 
General Michler observed unaccountable discrepancies in the read¬ 
ings of two barometers when he reached the Hingador. With this 
exception, the results of this officer’s observation were as close an 
approximation to the truth as can be expected in a reconnoissance, 
but it is impossible to say what given observation may be affected by 
some unknown cause. 

A comparison of hypsometric determinations with the same alti¬ 
tudes, ascertained by the spirit-level, will furnish some important 
elements for eliminating errors. But this operation doubles the 
labor of the surveyor, and time and cost of his explorations. 

The errors of the barometer have led to singular inferences, and 
the errors of observers to many more. Humboldt, La Condamine, 
Boussingault, give a decreasing pressure along the Andes; and Or¬ 
ton, taking this statement for granted, asks, “Are the Andes sink¬ 
ing?” The evidence of geological and historical periods is, that the 
Andes and sea coast are rising. The exceptions to this rule are 
local, and perhaps only in appearance. 

These objections to the use of this instrument only apply to sit¬ 
uations where the spirit-level can not be used. To determine heights 
inaccessible to any other instrument, or for simultaneous observation 
of the meteorological condition of an extensive area of country, the 
portability of the barometer render it invaluable. 

6 


82 


Climate. 


The height of the barometric column, on the Pacific slope of the 
Andes, according to Orton, is 29.930. He gives two values for the 
Atlantic side, 29.997 and 29.932. Michler gives the Atlantic coast 
of the Atrato 29.874. 

CLIMATE. 

A well-defined rainy season prevails for the most part through¬ 
out the Isthmus, and permits the selection of suitable weather for 
the operations of the engineer. Rain varies with proximity to the 
mountains, etc., but the interval from December to May may be re¬ 
garded as the dry season. The seasons are sometimes reversed, as 
in Costa Rica. There the dry season prevails upon the Pacific coast 
from November to April, but on the Atlantic the contrary prevails. 
Fall of rain in Honduras from May to October is 90.89 inches. 

The tierras templadas, or elevated table-lands, are universally 
healthy, and the climate in those regions possesses a charm which 
belongs exclusively to the tropics. The unhealthy influences of the 
marshes and sea-coast is much exaggerated, and may be said to cease 
during the winter or dry season. 

Col. Hughes, who visited the most insalubrious part of the Isth¬ 
mus, remarks that travelers, “ who live like civilized beings,” have 
little to fear from the climate. The writer spent six months, chiefly 
near the sea-coast of Columbia, during part of the time compelled 
to sleep among the swamps of the delta of the Magdelina, and al¬ 
though exposed to the sun during the day, and sleeping in the open 
air at night, not one case of febrile sickness occurred in the party of 
which he was a member, nor were more than two cases of fever ob¬ 
served among the natives during the period of residence. 

The temperature varies with the elevation above the sea. Ther¬ 
mometric records are of small value without the monthly and daily 
means of localities. 

The following table may give some general notion of their range: 


Fahrenheit. 



TEHUAN¬ 

TEPEC. 

HONDURAS. 

BALIZE. 

COSTA 

RICA. 

NICARA¬ 

GUA. 

ATRATO. 

May. 

qo° 

71° 

71° 

C 7 ° 

71° 

Average 

during 

February 

75.Z 

Tune... 

88° 

j / 

April_...._.........._ 

8 3 ° 

88° 

to 

to 

to 

to 

90° 

May. 

89° 

84° 

8 5 ° 

Tune ..... 

8i° 

December and January. 

74 ° 

























Population — Indians. 


S3 


In Guatemala average maximum 88.7°. Minimum 38.9°. 

Statistics, govermental and social, of Central America, are very 
uncertain. The revolutionary condition of a society, in which it is 
the interest of the chiefs to impose unjust burdens on the people, 
and of the people to deceive ; where, before an enumeration can fairly 
begin, the government which authorized it may be deposed, and 
another substituted in its place; the poverty, anarchy, and social de¬ 
moralization which result, are circumstances very unfavorable to a 
correct determination of the resources of the country, or the number v 
of its population. 

The following figures may not be free from this uncertainty, but 
give the best approximation that could be obtained: 

Population of the States of Central America. 



SQUARE MILES. 

POPULATION. 

Tehuantepec... . 


61,000 

Costa Rica... . . 

23,000 

48,000 

9,600 

43 , 3 So 

42,000 

150,000 

290,000 

294,000 

907,500 

350,000 

l68,000 

Nicaragua ... 

San Salvador. ...... . ... _ 

friiat.^mala ........ 

Honduras. ...... .... 




2,220,500 


This population is of a mixed character, composed of Europeans, 
Mestizoes, Indians, Negroes, and Zambos ; the European element 
being largely in the minority. 


INDIANS. 

Explorers in every part of the Isthmus, with the exception of Da¬ 
rien, give favorable accounts of the temper of the natives. Trautwine, 
who crossed the divide at several points in the province of Choco, re¬ 
garded a bundle of cigars as the best passport. General Michler 
depended on the natives for provisions during a part of his survey,, 
and was never disappointed. 

But the Darien and San Bias Indians have been permitted to 
threaten and murder with impunity. They have been further em¬ 
boldened by the timid behavior, and exasperated by the conduct of 
expeditionists. Had the hostile demonstration of the savages against 
Codazzi and Gisborne, and the massacre of four of Capt. Prevost s 
men, been promptly punished, subsequent exploring parties might 
now pass through the country unmolested. 

















8 4 


Vegetation. 


Strain, who thoroughly distrusted them, acknowledges that in one 
case his suspicions were unjust. After dismissing his guides, he re¬ 
marks that he “was afterward convinced that the Caledonia Indians, 
and their Sucubti friends, intended to lead them by the most direct 
route to the Savana, and that they were prevented doing so by the 
Indians of the Chuquanaque, or the Chuqunos, whom they met on 
the seventh day’s march, and whom from the first excited suspicion.” 
It would appear that this unfortunate expedition would have been 
better served by a little more confidence in these “formidable In¬ 
dians,” as Gisborne calls them, and a little acquaintance with their 
language, than by the fortitude it afterward exhibited in encountering 
the* trials which befell it. 

When misfortune appeals so strongly to sympathy, as it does in 
this case, criticism becomes an ungracious task. Throughout this 
paper we have omitted much in observing the rule, laid down for 
ourselves, to indicate what should be done, rather than notice what 
should not have been done. We therefore quote with pleasure the 
following graphic account of the difficulty of cutting a way through 
the tropical undergrowth, which we find in Mr. Gisborne’s narrative: 

Cutting the way , “ we were wading along the river margin, or 
facing clusters of prickly stems sometimes backing this mass of veg¬ 
etation. Every step had its difficulty,, and every difficulty was at¬ 
tended with additional bodily suffering; but our hearts nearly failed 
when an interminable mangrove wood extended as far as the eye can 
reach. 

“ The twisted and interlaced roots, some eight feet high, grew out 
of a bed of slimy mud, left by the tidal waters, making progress a 
succession of gymnastic feats, in which the gift of balancing had no 
small share. Hand and foot were equally occupied, and every muscle 
was called into play; nearly an hour’s perseverance had only advanced 
us a few hundred yards.” 

Another description of the same character will exhibit some of 
the difficulties: “ Occasionally a swamp, growing an impenetrable 

mass of vegetation, delayed our progress and expended our energies 
in fruitless hacking. The only way to get through many of these 
cienegas was to fall on one’s back into the middle of the matted 
vegetation, and then compress a place the length of one’s self, which 
those behind trod down. After persevering in this manner for several 
hundred yards, an inlet would be reached with a soft, muddy bottom, 
and waist deep from # the flood. On the other bank, the same mode 
of progress had to be adopted, until prickly palms, and still more 
prickly creepers, made a variety in the difficulty and suffering.” 


Building Material — Woods. 


85 


Strain met with similar obstruction. “ Hitherto, Strain had led 
the party, every day cutting a path with his cutlass. This was most 
laborious, and Mr. Truxton insisted on going ahead in his place. 
The undergrowth was exceedingly dense, and composed, for the most 
part, of ‘pinello,’ or little pine, a plant resembling that which pro¬ 
duces the pine-apple, but with longer leaves, serrated with long 
spines, which produce most painful wounds, especially as the last 
few days’ march had stripped the trowsers from many of the party.” 

The best way to clear these obstructions has been found to em¬ 
ploy natives, with machetes. This method, invariably adopted in 
Central America, has been recommended by Admiral Davis, who 
also advises the explorer to carry with him a good supply of canned 
and concentrated provisions. 

BUILDING MATERIAL. 

Suitable stone is found without difficulty. Hydraulic cement will 
probably have to be imported, although hydraulic limestone is said 
to have been found in the States of Vera Cruz and Oazaca. 

The explorer will find difficulty in discovering building sand. 
The sea beaches may afford suitable sand for hydraulic work. Bricks 
can be manufactured, without difficulty, at many points. 

WOOD AND TIMBER. 

The following, from the account of Lloyd and Sidell, gives the 
local names and character of the most useful species : 

1. Guachapali. —Abundant; four or five feet in diameter, like 
walnut; good under water. 

2. Macano , or Cacique. —Crooked, medium size; good in ground 
or water; much used. 

3. Espino Amarillo. —Not abundant; good in water ; yellow ; not 
liable to decay, or to be attacked by insects; straight; easily worked ; 
seven kinds. 

4. Cedro Espinoso. —Large, straight, light; heart alone good in 
open air and under ground. 

5. Cedro Cerollo. —Large, crooked, durable. 

6. Cedro real , Amargo. —Finest cedar of the country; used for 
many purposes in carpentry and boat-building; grows to five or six 
feet in diameter, and is very common. 

7. Nispero. —Large; not easily worked; stands well when shel¬ 
tered ; insects do not touch it; resists transverse strain; two kinds 
much esteemed. 


86 


Geology. 


8. Giuxyacan , or Guallacan (Lignum A).—Common; close- 
grained ; heavy; works well when green ; grows to four or five feet 
in diameter; used for gun-carriages, wheels, etc. 

9. Algarobo. —Excellent wood; hard and tough; reddish brown, 
with streaks ; large; common ; used for gun-carriages. 

10. Mangle Caballero (Mangrove). —Good as the Nispero ,* abun¬ 
dant near water; gives pieces thirty to forty feet long, and one foot 
square ; used for vessels. 

11. Alcomorque (cork tree).—Supplies large beams, which wear 
well. 

12. Malvicino. —Yellow; abundant; wears well; employed in 
building. 

13. Caoba (mahogany).—Large; not heavy; good for interiors; 
if not properly seasoned, is brittle. 

14. Robles. —Large ; not heavy ; easily worked ; used for paddle by 
the Indians ; stand well in air ; two varieties, one not good. 

15. Cocobolo Prieto. —Tough, hard; beautifully figured (like rose¬ 
wood) ; three feet in diameter; fragrant when green; used for car¬ 
pentry and cabinet work. 

16. Tutumia (calabash tree). 

17. Cano Blanco. —Cane; good for lathing when split. 

18. Quira. —Tough, close-grained, heavy; different colors, from 
light brown to very dark; very high ; from one to three and one- 
half feet in diameter; plentiful; used in house-building. 

19. Madrono Fino. —Like box; one and one-half foot in diameter; 
excellent wood for turning. 

Mr. Loyd gives a list of ninety-five varieties of woods, of which 
list the above are the most valuable. 

GEOLOGY. 

A mere enumeration of the geological specimens, which is all that 
present knowledge upon this subject will permit, is not thought de¬ 
sirable in this paper. Speculations and theories, if not premature, 
would be out of place. 

The physical geography of Central America is the proper subject 
for a treatise. We have already seen how the table-lands of Guate¬ 
mala, from four to five thousand feet above the level of the sea, sink 
to an insignificant height at Panama and Nicaragua. “ There is no 
spot on the globe,” says Humboldt, “ so full of volcanoes as this part 
of America, between ii° and 13 0 of latitude.” 

Two or three volcanoes, Fuego and Agua, in the State of Guate- 


Gold and Silver Statistics. 


87 


mala, are 14,000 and 12,000 feet high. Some of the volcanoes of 
Nicaragua reach a height of 7,000 feet. A common and remarkable 
characteristic of all of them is, that they rise in a conical form from 
the plain. 


Gold and silver produce of Central America. 



GOLD. 

SILVER. 

BOTH METALS. 

1804 to 1848. 

$8,800,000 

5,000,000 

$4,400,000 

3,000,000 

$13,200,000 

8,000,000 

1848 to 1868. 

Total. 

$13,800,000 

$7,400,000 

$21,200,000 



The mines of the Provinces of Panama and the Veraguas are not 
worked so extensively as they deserve to be. A small quantity of 
gold is annually produced in the Republics of Nicaragua, Honduras, 
Costa Rica, and San Salvador. The Costa Rican mint, in 1852, 
coined between fifty and one hundred thousand dollars annually. 
The actual gold product is estimated at ten times this amount. 
The most important mines in new Granada (Colombia) are found in 
the State of Antioquia. In 1868, the yield was $1,500,000 gold; 
$193,000 silver. The detritus of all the rivers of this State is 
auriferous. An English company works the Marmato gold mine 
and the Santa Anna silver mine, near Honda, on the Magdelina 
River. They have provided twelve stamping mills, representing one 
hundred and ten heads, which crush from ten to nineteen thousand 
tons per year, yielding, on an average, eleven pennyweights eleven 
grains of gold per ton. 

















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IS A SHIP CANAL PRACTICABLE? 


NOTES, / 

' 

HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL, 


UPON THE PROJECTED ROUTES FOR AN 


INTEROCEANIC SHIP CANAL BETWEEN THE ATLANTIC AND 

PACIFIC OCEANS, 

i 

IN WHICH IS INCLUDED 


A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF THE CANAL 
OF SUEZ, AND THE PROBABLE EFFECTS UPON THE COMMERCE 
OF THE WORLD OF THE TWO CANALS, REGARDED EITHER 
AS RIVALS, OR AS PARTS OF ONE SYSTEM OF 
INTEROCEANIC NAVIGATION. 

B Y 

S. T. ABERT, C.E. 


ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS. 


CINCINNATI: 

R. W. CARROLL & CO., PUBLISHERS, 

117 West Fourth Street. 

1870. 













































































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